Naruto of the Ryuugan
by Susanoo's Endless Darkness
Summary: The Natsume clan, an old but powerful clan has been left decimated, leaving only three members left. Naruto an orphan with connections to this clan. His journey begins now, with eyes that can see all. The power to lead the furture is in his hands.
1. Anko's test

**Naruto of the Ryuugan**

"Normal talking"

"**Demon/Summoning talking"**

Normal thinking'

'**Demon/ inner Sakura thinking'**

**disclaimer:**** I don't Naruto or Tenjou tenge. If I did I would rule the world MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHA *cough cough***

Chapter 1

A boy of twelve sat in a field of white flowers. He was about 149.3 cm tall and had a head full of spiky hair of the most golden blond tied that anyone would see. Portions of his hair drifted down over the front of his face, covering his forehead and portion of his eyes in fringes. The ends were tied into a ponytail that landed just below his neck. His eyes are cover by a black band of cloth, which is wrapped at the back of his head. On the front portion there is a metal plate that is engraved with the symbol of the leaf. Three whisker marks adorned both his left and right cheeks, giving him a very vulpine appearance.

The outfit he was wearing consists of a pure black, short sleeve shirt, on which is a growling azure dragon design imprinted on the front. The dragon itself was long, based more on the serpentine style of dragons, two small arms was near the front, a quarter of the way up it's long body, near it's large muzzle. Golden hair trailed the back of its body, heading towards its tail. Two large wings flared out, in the motion of flapping. Its feet are it towards the back of its body, pressed against its frame. The dragon is facing towards the right; it's long body spiraling around in small loops. A mix of blue and white clouds was around it, showing its movement through the air as it flew. The detail of the dragon was astounding, with every nuance stitched onto it in meticulous detail making the dragon truly look like it was alive and might leap out of the shirt at any moment.

The lower part of his clothing consists of black cargo pants with a red phoenix ascending up on the right pant leg. Its wings are flared out widely, a blaze of fire surround it as if it was a tempest threatening to incinerate him, along with his pants. Its talons are extended downward. On the opposite leg, there is a white and black-stripped tiger growling fiercely, crouching down in a defensive posture as if ready to pouch on anything that would attack the boy. Its fangs are visible adding on to its ferocious visage. Clouds surrounded the tiger, the bulk of it near its hind legs. Much like the dragon, the two animals bore an incredible attention to detail and looked almost alive.

Leaning down a bit, the boy touched a flower near him. He rubbed the soft petals, memorizing the feel.

'So beautiful' He thought. Being around such beauty was a blessing. He had always loved beautiful things, and this flowers he had pretty much grown his self were about as beautiful and pure as they came. A smirk appeared on his face, thinking of the few exceptions.

Feeling a slight presence not too far from him, the boy sent a chakra wave out. The wave returned to him a second later giving him a mental image of the flowers around him and a figure, a man to be more precise, hiding in a forest behind him. 'Another one? It's the third time this week' He thought. He slowly rose from his spot and leisurely turned towards the trees, trying not to alert the individual that he was found.

'Hn this should be easy.' The figure thought as he crept along the trees with stealth skill of a decently trained ninja. Neither hiding nor his stealth would do him any good here, but there was no need to alert him to such a fact.

The boy sighed, than began walking towards the tree line, hoping to draw the person out. The ninja pulled out a kunai and prepared himself for combat. Just as the boy reached the trees the figure shot out toward him, kunai ready to pierce his neck. A smirk appeared on the boy's face.

It was time to go to work.

With deft and sure movement, the blond moved to his left, sidestepping the incoming kunai. There was a blur of movement; he felt the stirred air ruffle his hair and clothing as the man passed, his hair blowing away from his cloth covered eyes.

There was a slight thud behind him, approximately five meters if he had to guess. He picked up the slight shifting of the grass and dirt figuring the ninja had slid across the ground. He could tell he didn't reach the garden.

Quick footsteps alerted him that the ninja was heading back towards him. The boy moved again, accurately dodging the follow up strike, then the next one, and the next, and then another.

"Damn it! Stay still brat." The person shouted with a mix of anger and annoyance.

Amused the boy continued to dance around the man dodging each attack, a smile playing on his face. "Now why would I do something so stupid?" The boy asked in a mild mannered voice, as if he and the shinobi currently trying to gut him were old drinking buddies.

"So I can END YOU!" The man roared, as he attacked with fiercer determination then before.

He was also much sloppier then before.

"And that would make me want to stay still, why?" The blond asked, tilting his head even as he jumped backwards and away from the ninja as he thrust his kunai forward.

There was a slight pause in the man's moment. A moment later he heard the man run toward him again and smirked.

It was all too easy.

The next instance he disappeared from the man's sight and appeared behind him with a kunai in hand. He heard the man turn around and smirk marring his face widened just a bit.

"How….?" The ninja choked, his anger and desire for vengeance slowly giving way to shock. "There's no way you can be that fast!"

"You sure do ask stupid questions." The boy commented. He disappeared again and reappeared several feet away from the man. The sound of the ninja dropping to the ground reached his ears a second later.

With the threat currently gone a loud sigh escaped his mouth. "The old man needs to up the training for his ninja."

He walked over to him sending another chakra wave out to confirm his position. When he got the image he stopped directly above the guy, crouched down, and grabbed him by his collar.

The blond rose up lifting the man off the ground. He hefted the larger ninja over his shoulder. With his other hand, the blond made a hand seal and focused his chakra.

Then he was gone.

It wasn't long before the boy reappeared in an office surround by jounin and an old man in a chair, behind a desk. He sent another chakra wave and got mental images of all the jounin. A few of them were female and the rest were male. He felt a heated glare from most of the people in the room.

"Naruto why aren't you in class?" He heard an aged voice asked. "First, why are you holding that chuunin?"

Naruto smiled, "Well, I was tending to my garden and he decided he wanted to spar. I was like; why would a chuunin want to spar with me when I wasn't even an official genin yet." Naruto explained. "He was all like 'I heard you were strong for your age and wanted to see if it was true.' He then proceeded to charge at me. As you can see, I kicked his ass." Naruto replied joyfully. The old man sighed before speaking.

"How many times does this make?" The old man asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Third time today, but then again, I was up all night." He replied tapping his chin with his index finger. "No rest for the awesome it seems." Naruto added. The old man snapped his fingers and two people appeared in front of Naruto.

"Hokage-sama!" Both ninja snapped into a straight stance and gave their hokage a salute.

"Take the chuunin to the usual place."

"Hai" They both let out. The scuffle of feet drew nearer to him, one pair on either side. They stopped just a few inches from his position, and soon enough, the weight of the chuunin on his shoulder disappeared. There was a slight pop and displaced air, most likely a shunshin, and the presence of the chuunin and the other two shinobi disappeared.

With the new dilemma now taken care of, the aged voice again came to Naruto's ears. "Naruto you didn't answer my first question." He said.

"Oh, well, that's easy to answer," Naruto hummed slightly. "I just didn't want to listen to the fan girls. They yell too loud, you know." Naruto said.

"That one of the lamest excuses I've ever heard." Came a feminine voice from behind him. Naruto cocked his head to the side, judging the distance between him and her. Exactly 1.43 meters.

"Well, if you don't like that one, I could just tell you I got lost on the road of life then" Naruto replied. The woman who just spoke walked over to him and tried to hit him over his head. It would have worked if he wasn't expecting it. With a well-timed lean, he managed to escape the blow. Though, he failed to escape the second one.

"What have I told you about using that stupid excuse?"

From his crouched position, Naruto sent out a small pulse of chakra towards the woman who just hit him. The image he got was of what many men would consider a goddess in human form. She was of a decent height, standing around 167 centimeters total. The color of her hair is violet, an unusual color, one that he had only 'seen' on her. It was tied up into a short, somewhat spiky ponytail, with small fringe of bangs hovering a few centimeters above her eyes. Those eyes, they were light brown and strangely enough, had no pupils, though Naruto new for a fact that she was not blind. Her eyes, much like the rest of her was unique.

Her outfit consists of a tan over coat that went down to her ankles, with a mesh body suit under it that ended at her thighs, and matching tan skirt. Both the over and skirt did very little to hide the way her mesh suit conformed to her body, revealing flawless curves and toned muscles that only came from a lot of training. The finishing touches to her outfit consisted of a necklace with a snake fang around her neck, a dark blue belt around her waist that connects to her skirt that has an appendage-like sash, shin guards on her legs, and blue sandals. All in all, this woman seemed to define the phrase 'dressed to kill'.

"But Hebi-chan," He whined. "It's true. I was walking to the academy when I scented my garden and just had to go there. The beauty of the petals was so very enticing I couldn't ignore them and I just got lost in thought." His petulant looking pout soon transformed into a charming, yet lecherous smile. "However, I have to admit, as enticing as my flowers were, they have nothing to your hypnotic beauty."

The response he got from the general populous was mixed. Those who knew him either snorted, or chuckled, while those who didn't, looked at the boy with incredulous eyes, as if wondering whether or not he had a death wish.

Anko merely grinned patting him on the head.

"I didn't know you liked older women." She said cheerfully.

"Of course I'm into older women. Especially women of your caliber." Naruto exclaimed.

"My caliber? What's my caliber?" She asked curiously.

"You are smart, sexy and dangerous," Naruto listed off, using his left hand to tic off the index, middle, and pointer fingers of his right hand as he spoke. "Very few women have even one of those traits, while you embody all three."

"True, true" Anko replied to his words with a nod.

The jounin in the room couldn't help but face faulted.

"Hn, that's odd. I remember you saying that same thing to me last week." Another female cut through the room, this time on his right.

This particular person was another woman, a vision of loveliness that few could match. She had long and black, shoulder-length untamed hair. A Konoha forehead protector kept it, for the most part, out of her face, leaving only a few small bangs framing either side of her heart-shaped face. Her eyes were a very unique color, a deep and exotic wine red, with an additional ring around the pupil, making for a very hypnotic and beautiful set of eyes. She wore very little make up, which consisted of red lipstick that managed to draw attention to her full lips, and purple eye shadow that brought out her already stunning eyes.

Her outfit was another unusual feature about her. Unlike most other ninja, who wore the traditional blue pants and shirt with a green flak jacket, she wore no such clothing. Instead, her regular outfit consisted of a red mesh armor blouse with only the right sleeve visible. Over this was a very broad material, which resembles bandages with a pattern on it similar to those of rose thorns. Her hands and upper thighs were also wrapped in bandages and the outfit was finished off with a set of regular shinobi sandals. While the outfit was not as outrageous as Anko's, it still managed to show off her generous and well-endowed figure nicely.

"Well, that's because it's true." Naruto replied.

The black hair woman, one Kurenai Yuuhi, raised an eyebrow. "Really? I think it's just because I was going to beat on you."

"Come on my sweet Nai-chan, have you ever heard me lie before?" Naruto asked.

"Well there was this one time last month when you groped Anko. I remember her asking you about it. You blamed it on some random guy who was passing you on the street," the comment she made was only complimented by the not-so innocent smile on her face.

Naruto's mouth dropped a second later.

"I knew it" Anko exclaimed in anger. A second later Naruto felt a pair of hands grab a handful of his shirt, before his body was lifted from the floor.

While his feet dangling several inches above the floor, Naruto felt sweat began to pour down his face, especially when his chakra sonar showed him that Anko had her fist reared back to hit him.

Fortunately for him, the young woman was interrupted from giving the blond a piece of her mind via 'feminine justice' by a slight cough. Turning, Anko found the Hokage, giving her a mildly exasperated, yet somewhat amused look.

There was also a small amount of what looked like dried blood under his nose. Thankfully –for him- no one actually noticed that detail.

"Punish him later. Naruto get to class before your team is announced," The old man ordered.

"Fine" Anko grumbled. While she would love to wail on the brat for groping her person, she couldn't just ignore a direct order from her Hokage. And besides, he hadn't said she couldn't punish him, just not now.

And oh would he be getting his punishment later.

With thoughts of her retribution – which many involved kunai, blood, and having the blond pay for a lifetime supply of dango, Anko dropped him, letting Naruto fall to the ground. He did, and managed to keep from embarrassing himself by landing on his feet, bending his knees slightly to absorb the surprise impact. He then stood up straight and sighed as he heard her turn around.

A small smirk made it's way to his face.

He pulled his arm back and used his chakra sonar to take aim.

"Kept that ass tight!" He shouted out, swinging his hand around smacking her rear fast. The loud sound of a hand smacking flesh was only overshadowed by the very girly yelp that came from Anko.

"Kyyaa!"

Having let out her squeal of surprise, pain and, oddly, arousal, Anko jumped slightly, her hands moving to her backside.

Everyone else stared at the blond, in a mixture of admiration, pity, awe, and even shock- for the males. For the woman; rage, hatred, the ever-infamous look of 'righteous female fury', and interesting enough one smile, from the one who predicted it would happen.

As for Anko herself, she was having a bit of a problem. Her mind had temporarily short circuited, and not just at the thought that someone had the audacity to smack her in the rear, but also that person had to be a twelve year old kid.

There was also the problem that the ass-slap had resulted in her slight arousal. Of course, with all women, the moment her brain rebooted and kick-started her thought processes, her mind gave way to embarrassment and anger. It wasn't long before she was spinning around towards the blond, her hands already moving to throttle the little brat.

Naruto just gave her a cheeky grin, his hands already forming into the ram seal.

"Bye sweet heart," Naruto said with an oh-so-cheerful smile, right before he disappeared in a puff of smoke, once again managing to escape the wrath of the angry woman.

The enraged shout of "NA-RU-TOOOOOO!" could be heard all throughout Konoha.

**Academy**

Naruto arrived outside his classroom just a few minutes later. The moment he walked in, he started sending out chakra waves every few seconds to allow himself to receive constant updates on what everyone inside of the classroom was doing.

And currently they were staring at him.

"Naruto, where the hell have you been?" Asked the teacher standing in front of the class. Iruka was a man of average height and build, standing at178 cm in height. His outfit consist of a blue, long sleeve shirt, a green flight jacket on the over it, and a pair of long blue pant that have a white tape around the left and right thigh and his forehead protector around his forehead. His irises are a brown color and his shoulder length brown hair is tied messily in a high ponytail. There is a wide horizontal scar across his nose.

"Well you see Iruka-sensei, I was relaxing in my garden, when this hot purple haired woman came out of now where. She was like "Naruto it is time you get your due for the entire woman population that you have sexually harassed." Then I was like, "Well then bring it on!" Naruto said, changing his voice as he acted out the roles using large, gesticulating hand gestures. "We got into this huge fight and I realized that she wouldn't go down. Not only that but she seemed more skilled then I myself is. So I thought of the most suitable plan, and it was extremely simple." Naruto said explaining it not really caring about the incredulous, stupid and angry looks he was receiving from his teacher and fellow classmates. "I decided to grope her once again and I succeeded. And let me tell you Iruka-sensei her breast was v…."

"That's enough, Naruto," Iruka interrupted, apparently feeling no desire to hear more about the blond boy's exploits.

"Very soft. And that ass. One of the finest I have ever seen and that is saying something." Naruto continued.

"Naruto…" Iruka warned.

"But back to what happened. As I groped her she let out this erotic moan that instantly gave…"

"NARUTO!" Iruka shouted angrily as he slammed his hand on the table.

"What?" Naruto asked, shifting his head toward Iruka.

"Just…. Just go sit in your seat." The teacher said in an irritated tone as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Damn, if this boy didn't give him a headache.

Naruto grinned, walking to the back and sitting next to a rather plump student wearing a white shirt with green short pants, unruly brown hair and blue ninja sandals. Aside from the boy being rather large…large, he swirl marks on his cheeks and his spiky hair was held by the forehead protector, which was wrapped around his head like a bandana, with only two tufts sticking out on each end.

The boy next to him is wearing a grey shirt with a mesh shirt under it, black long shinobi pants and blue ninja sandals; his charcoal black hair was tied to the back resembling a pineapple. What was very odd about this particular boy, aside from the fact that he was currently sleeping, was the perennial expression of boredom he had on his face whenever he was actually awake.

"Yo Choji, Shikamaru." Naruto greeted as he sat down.

"Hey Naruto….interesting story…." Chouji replied. As always the larger boy was currently eating out of a bag of chips, which hindered his speech as he had to stop talking every so often to munch on his chips.

"Thanks," Naruto said with a smile that spoke how pleased he was with himself. "I have hundreds of them." As he finished speaking, Naruto noticed that Shikamaru was still asleep, and decided to wake him up by kicking the lazy soon-to-be-genin in the shins.

"Ugh, troublesome blond," Shikamaru greeted, barely lifted his head up to give Naruto the evil eye. Or at least, as evil an eye that someone as lay as he was could give.

Less then a second later, Shikamaru's head hit the table again as the lazy Nara fell asleep. Naruto shook his head at the other kids lack of energy, before turning his attention to someone else, someone much more important then the lazy kid who liked to sleep.

"Hey Maya-chan," he waved at his friend in greeting. The girl he was talking to, gained a small tic mark on her head, picked up the nearest book, and smacked the blond with it.

WHAP!

"Owch," He yelped, his hands going to his nose. He sniffled a bit, hoping he wasn't bleeding from the surprise attack. "What was that for?"

"I told you not to add chan to my name, idiot," Maya said with a slight glare. Naruto pouted as his sonar conjured up an image of her into his mind.

Maya was a rather beautiful young girl, standing at around 149 centimeters tall. Her hair was a long, flowing silver that held an unusual amount of shine to it, creating an almost reflective surface whenever the light hit it. Her hair framed a perfectly heart shape face with a small nose, full lips and a set of beautiful baby blue eyes. Despite her young age, Maya's body was already beginning to develop quite nicely, and Naruto knew that, combined with the light tan she had gained from being out in the sun so much, her body would soon be the envy of women everywhere

Her outfit was a blue blouse with the image of a white tiger that was very similar to the one on Naruto's pant, its stance fierce and crouched as it roared. Blue cargo pants, her forehead protector tied around her neck, a kunai pouch on her right leg, along with a pair of blue shinobi sandals finished the outfit. The only other item if interest she held was a long, 40 inch katana that was set in a purple sheath, leaning against her desk.

"Hello, Naruto," said a girl sitting next to Maya. The girl speaking had long, straight brown hair that goes to the middle of her back and kind, brown eyes. Like Maya, this girl was rather beautiful, her healthy tan complimenting a growing figure similar to Maya's own well. The outfit she was wearing consisted of a white sleeveless blouse with a burning red phoenix design on the front, its wings spread out as a halo of fire surrounded it. Fishnets covered her right elbow, and a pair of green cargo pants conformed slightly to fit her athletic hips and toned legs. Situated on her right thigh was a kunai holster, and attached to the back of her pants was a tan supply pouch. Her Konoha forehead protector was tied tightly around her right arm.

"Hey Aya-chaaaaaan," Naruto exclaimed, drawing out the chan. It wasn't long before another book came flying from Maya, smacking him in his head.

"Owch" Naruto groaned, his hands going to the growing lump on his head.

"I told you not to call her that either." Maya said in a stern "if you don't listen to me I'll castrate you' voice.

"But…" Naruto started.

"SHUT UP" Iruka roared, utilizing his ever infamous Big head technique, to increase the size of his cranium to three times it's normal size. Naruto closed his mouth and turned to Iruka, making the scarred chuunin sigh in relief, now that he was finally able to continue. "Okay now for you teams. Team 1 is…."

"Hey, Shikamaru, we're still on for today, right?" Naruto asked lowly.

"Yeah…." came the ever lazy reply.

"Hey, Naruto, how is it possible for you to beat Shikamaru when you can't see?" asked Chouji as he reached his hand into his bag to continue munching on his potato chips.

Barbeque flavored potato chips. Yum.

A small grin stretched across Naruto's face as he replied, "Sorry, trade secret."

Choji looked like he was about to complain, but Maya was quick to interject herself and change the conversation by asking "Naruto, why were you late?"

"I told you already. That purple haired…." Naruto said.

"Yeah….now how about the truth." Maya said frowning.

"Maya-chan you wound me. For you to think that I would make up that incredible story just to throw everyone off my trail that hurts." Naruto said in a mock hurt tone. He put his hand to his chest, as if to emphasize the pain the silver-haired girls caused him. Maya stared at him with an annoyed looked, her eyes beginning to twitch, while Aya had to cover her mouth to hide her giggle.

"I believe you, Naruto-kun." She said smiling. Maya stared at her as if wanting to scold her.

"Thank you Aya-chan. I'm so relieved that at least one of my close, beautiful friends trusts me." Naruto said sniffling slightly. Maya glared at him in an incredulous matter.

"Well forgive me for not believing that you would fight a woman, grope her, and manage to get away without a bruise on your body or at least your clothing a little ruffled," Maya said. Naruto mouth opened slightly before he touched his clothing.

"There is a reasonable explanation for why I haven't been hit." Naruto said.

"And what is that?" Maya asked.

"I ran." Naruto said in a manner that said this was all the answer she needed.

"Team 7 is Sakura Haruno, Aya Natsume and Sasuke Uchiha." Iruka said catching their attention.

'Fuck' Aya thought. Naruto let out an angry growl, causing Maya looked at him. She shook her head before leaning back slightly.

"Team eight is Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame." Iruka said.

"Yes! True love wins!" Sakura shouted her glee to the world. She pointed a victory sign at Ino who was sitting next to her.

Sakura Haruno was a girl long pink hair with emerald green eyes. Her forehead protector was tied around her forehead, holding her hair away from her face. She was wearing a red qipao with white rings on the front, white pants that had bandages covering her right knee and blue ninja sandals. Unlike Maya and Aya, who were both already beginning to develop bodies that could already be considered drool worthy, Sakura curves were less than average , mainly due to her dieting so she could 'impress her Sasuke-kun'

"I can't believe it," Ino groaned in complaint. Using his chakra sonar, Naruto got the image of a girl with pale blonde hair and aqua colored eyes. Her long waist length hair is tied up into a ponytail, a large bang covering the right side of her face, just barely covering the end of her eye. He knew her to be at a height of 149.3 cm tall, her lithe body possessing the curves of a developing girl. There is a silver hoop earring in each of her ears.

Her outfit consist a short purple vest like blouse with a raised collar and a skirt that was cut off on the sides. Bandages were neatly wrapped around her stomach and legs keeping any of her skin from showing. Purple and white elbow warmers adorned her arms, leaving her shoulders bare. Her forehead protector is tied around her waist, being used as a belt.

"Ugh, how troublesome. Why do girls like guys like that anyways?" muttered Shikamaru. Normally he would keep his mouth shut, as it was usually too troublesome for him to even open his mouth. But considering the girls in his class kept harping over 'Sasuke-kun' constantly no matter what he said, or didn't say, the entire situation was already troublesome to him.

"Honestly, Shikamaru," Ino huffed. "It should be obvious why we like Sasuke-kun. It's cause he's-"

"Shikamaru, I can answer that" Naruto interrupted Ino before she could go on a rant about the greatness of 'Sasuke-kun'.

"Ahem" Naruto coughed into his hand, clearing his throat before starting on his own spiel. "Girls these days, excluding Hinata, Maya-chan, and Aya-chan are stupid. They go after guys who they believe are mysterious but are obviously gay. Hence the reason they like an emo bastard like Sasuke." Naruto said with an unrepentant grin. His grin widen when he felt several glares that could have melted the polar ice caps, and a weak killing intent that was just a little stronger than civilians. The only girls not blasting him with glares and killing intent were Maya, who was smirking, and Aya, who had covered her hand while releasing a soft giggle.

"Fuck you, Naruto!" Both Ino and Sakura screamed.

"SHUT UP" Iruka yelled once more.

Both girls shut up immediately, their eyes wide as they looked toward Iruka.

Sighing, the scarred chuunin continue. "Now for team ten. Ino Yamanaka." He started. Ino perked up listening for her teammates. "Shikamaru Nara" He said next.

'Oh no, not lazy bones!' Ino thought lamentingly.

"And Chouji Akimichi." Iruka finished. As soon as the last name was called, Ino banged her head on the desk and released an audible groan.

'Great, just what I needed, lazy and fatty.'

"Since there are 32 graduates this year, we don't have enough students to form another three man squad." Iruka started again, looking over the notes on his clipboard. "Therefore, Naruto Uzumaki and Maya Natsume will form a 2 man squad for Team 11."

Naruto and Maya looked over at each other as Iruka said this. A moment later, they both smirked.

'The only way our team could be better is if Aya-chan was on it as well.' Naruto thought with a sigh.

"Now that you've all been assigned your teams, we're going to have a one-hour lunch break for you to get to know your teammate better," Iruka said. "After the hour is up, come back inside where your new sensei will be waiting for you."

"Catch you guys later," Naruto said to Choji and Shikamaru, tossing a wave over his shoulder as he jumped out of the window. He didn't need to see them to know that Choji would be waving back while Shikamaru would most likely already be asleep.

Walking along the walls, the blond soon made his way to the back of the school and, through the use of his chakra sonar, managed to find a decently large tree. Showing off his speed, Naruto hurdled towards the tree, leaping when he was several feet away, then kicking off the trunk. His left hand shot out, grabbing onto the branch, and in an acrobatic display, used the deceptive strength in his arms to swing himself onto the branch.

With a content sigh, Naruto sat down, leaning against the trunk so he could get some relaxation.

**The Hokage's office**

"Hokage-sama, do you really think it's a good idea to put those two on a team together, especially with Anko as their Jounin-sensei?" asked a man with black hair that was done up in short spikes, and a beard that ran along the edge of his jaw. He was wearing the standard shinobi garb of long-sleeved blue shirt and pants, with standard ninja sandals, a green flak jacket and Konoha forehead protector wrapped around his head. The only significant difference between his outfit and other shinobi's was the white scarf that had the kanji for '12 Guardians' in red ink wrapped around his waist.

"I agree with Asuma," said another Jounin, this one with spiky, duster style hair-cut. He was wearing the standard jounin outfit, with the sole exception being that he had a facemask on that covered the lower half of his face. Also, his forehead protector was tilted over his left eye, covering it so that no one could see what was underneath. However, it wasn't these differences that caught people's attention. No, that honor belonged to the relaxed, almost lazy posture he had, and the drooping expression on his face, as if he were extremely bored.

There was also the small orange book in his hand, but the only attention that got were the glares from the few women inside of the room with him.

"I think Maya would be better on my team," the masked shinobi continued. "I think she would not only be an asset, but would also allow for better team dynamics. She has great charisma and leadership qualities, as well as incredible potential. I believe Maya would inspire Sakura to do better as well."

"No." Sarutobi said, shaking his head back and forth. "While you may be correct about her potential, she is most definitely not suited to be on your team."

"Oh?" Kakashi looked up from his book to stare at the hokage. "May I ask why?"

"Aya is, for lack of a better word, normal, compared to Naruto and her cousin. That's one of the reasons she was placed on team 7. She has the best chance of actually getting along with Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto and Maya, however, are a very different story. Naruto has a problem with males all together as you three should already know. He keeps the ones that he gets along with at a distance. That's why Anko has been place as the Jounin for their group. However, there are other problems. Under certain circumstances, Naruto, for which is hard to determine the cause, will lose control of himself. From there he enters an enraged state that makes it impossible to subdue him without great harm. Maya seems to be the only one capable of bringing him back from these enraged states."

"Rages?" asked Kakashi, raising an eyebrow.

"You needn't worry about it Kakashi." Sarutobi said in a firm voice. "She is on his team to control him when he gets like that." The Hokage said. "Besides I don't think Maya would want to be on teams with anyone else." He chuckled a bit as he thought of just 'why' she would not want to be on a team with anyone but Naruto. The old Hokage absently wondered how long it would be before Maya herself discovered those reasons.

**Back with Naruto**

Even during his relaxation, his mind was still alert. The moment the scent of cinnamon hit his nose; Naruto sent out a chakra wave, the sonar pinging back to him as he received the image of Maya on the same branch he was sitting on, walking soundlessly toward him.

It was hard to withhold the smirk that wanted to break through as she knelt down in front of him. There was a moment of pause, before Maya reached up for his forehead protector with both hands on either side of his head, getting ready to grasp the Konoha headband and pull it up.

Before she could, however, Naruto's hands moved as lightning, snatching her wrist and kept them from moving. The smirk that threatened to break free now was loose as Maya struggled just a bit startled that he was up.

"Tsk, tsk," Naruto jokingly mocked. "Since when did want to take a peek at my eyes?"

"Since the first day your eyes were covered," Maya answered with a shrug. As Naruto let go of her hands, she retracted said appendages and moved to sit down, positioning herself so that her legs were hanging off the branch.

"Soooo," She started swinging her legs slightly. "Who do you think is our sensei is going to be?"

Naruto grunted as he shifted a bit, crossing his arms over his chest as he did so. "Don't know. But as long as we've got a female for a sensei, I'm good. I wound hate to lose a jounin sensei so soon if we were given a man."

"You really shouldn't say something like that so freely," Maya warned her friend with a mild look of reproval.

"Probably," Naruto replied in a bright, cheerful voice. "But it doesn't matter right now, there's no one around to hear me except you."

"Idiot," She sighed, before chuckling a little. She looked up at the sky and smiled. Deciding to change the subject, she asked/demanded, "So tell me what happened a few nights ago."

"You mean after the genin exam?"

"Yeah." She replied, her gaze moving away from the sky to him. "I didn't see you at all that night."

"Why do you think anything happened?" He asked with a tilt of his head.

"Naruto…" She growled in warning, letting him know that she was being serious and she wouldn't hesitate to knock him one if he didn't answer.

"Alright, alright. No need to get your pretty red panties in a twist." Naruto let out tensing his body slightly for a hit. She just gave him an annoyed glare, and he sighed. "Nothing serious happened, I just got into a fight with Mizuki. That's all." Naruto said.

"A fight with Mizuki?" At Naruto's nod "How did that happen?" She asked confused.

Naruto chuckled, a smug smirk coming over his face. "He thought he was smart enough to trick me into stealing the scroll of sealing."

Maya looked at him for several seconds, her head tilted slightly at his words and their meaning registered in her eyes. A second later, she narrowed her eyes grinning.

"You sly fox, you stole it didn't you?" She accused, making the blond grin

"Oh hell yeah I did!" Naruto exclaimed, pride in his voice. "There was no way I could pass up a chance to look in that scroll…all those jutsu…" Naruto exclaimed.

Maya rolled her eyes at the sight of her best friend drooling, but couldn't help but be interested in what he said.

"Did you learn some useful jutsu?"

"Yep." He said with a smiled. Maya looked over at him and seeing the smile on his face, smirked as thoughts of how to learn the jutsu he learned off him.

A second later she jumped off the branch, landing in a slight crouch on the ground below. She looked back up at him, smiled, than began moving towards the school building.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Naruto shouted out.

"To meet Aya. She must be lonely having only Sakura and Sasuke for company," She said. Maya turned around and was about to walk away again, when someone grabbed her from behind.

She was pulled back a second later, her momentum only stopping when her back hit his chest. "Na-Naruto!" squeaked Maya in surprise. "What are you doing?"

Naruto, who had been the one to pull her back, had quickly used their position to his advantage, and now had both his hands resting firmly on her chest. He grabbed the handful of the still growing mounds, noting that he could no longer fit them all in one hand.

"Maya-chan….I think your breasts got a little bigger" Naruto said almost absently as he gently squeezed her breast. Maya scowled, her face burning red from both anger and embarrassment.

"Really? …." She asked though gritted teeth.

"Hm…" Naruto hummed slightly, as if in thought. He released his soft grip on her chest and allowed his hands to drop. A second later both hands were dipping in her pockets. Unfortunately, before he could search for what he wanted, Maya grabbed his wrist.

"Nice try," She said, tilting her head allowing her face to be overshadowed, giving her a dark and twisted look.

"Damn," he muttered, before letting out nervous laugh. "Now Maya-chan, d-don't do anything you'll regret now-" the blonde stopped, feeling his body being pulled forward. He barely had a second to escape her grasp, allowing himself to be thrown instead of smashed into the ground. His body twisted around in the air, corkscrewing, before he landed on the ground several feet from her.

"Don't worry," Maya said as she stalked up to him, like a predator when it's found its prey. "I won't."

A small nervous smile appeared on his face, Naruto had to wonder, should he comment on her sexy a look that was?

Unfortunately for him, he would not be given a chance to say anything, as Maya suddenly lashed out with a heel kick that aimed to crack a few ribs had he not ducked under it.

Naruto rolled forward, hoping to move pass her now raised leg. However, before he could do much, Maya brought her heel down hard, and Naruto was forced to change direction mid roll. He barely managed to dodge her foot, which just cracked the ground where it struck. As the blond scrambled to his feet from his new position several feet, he frowned at the realization that the attack might have actually hurt him.

Maybe his teasing went a little too far?

Nah.

This was the scene that Aya walked into. She had just come out from the academy and was holding a bento box, which she had been hoping to eat in the presence of her cousin and friend – Sakura and Sasuke had not been all that fun to hang out with, as Sakura had just pestered Sasuke for a date, and Sasuke ignored her and everything else around him.

She stopped, however, and an expression of confusion entered her face as she watched the battle between Maya and Naruto.

Her blond friend was quick to sidestep a punch from Maya; a straight jab that would have put his jaw out of commission for some time had it hit. As it was he could still feel the displaced air from the attack hit his cheek. He jumped backwards, out of Maya's range as she followed up with a spinning kick that would not have been good for his health.

"Maya-chan, calm down!" Naruto pleaded, before being forced to dodge another attack from his friend. He was unable to get another word in as Maya paced him with a relentless fury and sent a barrage of powerful punches and kicks his way

"What makes you think I'm not calm?" Maya shouted, her fist lashing out like lightning. Naruto just barely managed to tilt his head to the side and letting it pass, even then he could feel the power behind her attack.

"Why don't you look at the ground you just cracked!?" Naruto shouted back, dodging as more kicks and punches came his way. He was quick to move, weaving through the hailstorm of attacks. It would not be good for him to get hit by one of them.

"That's ok! I think I would have a better time looking at your broken arms!" She shouted again. Aya watched as her silver haired cousin continued to chase Naruto, her arms and legs a blur as she used them to launch incredibly fast attacks. Naruto was barely able to dodge some of them by using a combination of sidesteps, crouches, and jumps, several of Maya's attacks would come so close that they would ruffle his hair and clothing.

'Well….at least she doesn't have her katana this time.' Aya thought, sweat dropping as she watched a particularly vicious kick from Maya blow off the bark of a tree that Naruto had been backed against.

Sighing, Aya moved over to another tree and made herself comfortable. Knowing those two, they would be at this for a while or at least until Maya got tired.

She sat down under it and placed her bento on her lap. Opening the box, Aya grabbed a kushi dango and brought it to her lips. She started to eat slowly as she watched the two continue their fight, well, one sided fight.

Naruto smelling the scent of food stopped long enough for Maya to slug him hard across the cheek. He hit the ground hard, sliding back. The blond came to a stop near the middle of the area, groaning lowly. His right hand went to his face rubbing his bruised cheek.

"Owch."

Maya walked up to his prone form, stopping just over him. She stared down at Naruto who was too busy rubbing some feeling back to his face to notice her presence.

Raising her right foot up, Maya brought it down hard onto his stomach. The blond gasped out in pain. Dirt kicked up around them as the power of Maya's next stomp pressed her friend into the ground. Soon enough, Naruto's cries were only equaled by the sound of sandaled foot colliding with human flesh. Several minutes and four-abandoned dango skewers later, Maya walked over to Aya with a satisfied smile on her face. She sat down on Aya's right side and quickly reached over her to grab a dango.

"Hey! That's mine" Aya exclaimed as she reached over, trying to retake her stolen dango. However, Maya simply leaned over away from her cousin's grabby hands and began munching contently on the sweet treat.

"You know, you shouldn't be mean to your cousin." Maya said eating the next one.

"And maybe you should have your own," Aya said with a huff, her lips quivering as she gave a pout. A groan interrupted any type of reply Maya might have had, and the two turned their attention to Naruto, who was just now pushing himself to his feet. With a slight sway of his body he began to pant his clothes down of any dirt and footprints that might have decorated him. He walked over to the pair and plopped down on Aya's left, before leaning back against the tree. Aya gave her friend a small smile and held out a dango skewer to him.

"Thanks," Naruto said with a small smile, his hands reaching over to the offered treat.

"So, you offer one to him, but get mad at me for taking one?" Asked Maya, her curiosity peeked as she looked at Aya.

"That's because unlike you, he was going to ask for one not just take one," Aya replied, before sticking out her tongue.

"And what makes you so sure of that?" Maya asked, a haughty look on her face.

"Because he always asks," Aya retorted, making Maya raise and eyebrow. As if in retaliation, the silver-haired girl's hand shot out, taking hold on three more dango skewers, much to Aya's displeasure.

"Hey!" Aya shouted out as Maya jumped onto a tree branch and stuck out her tongue.

"Hold this, would ya?" Aya asked, not even bothering to wait for a reply as she set her bento on Naruto's lap. Aya directed a glare towards Maya, before she crouched down and pushed off the ground. Soaring through the air she landed on the same branch Maya occupied.

Or so she thought, for as soon as Aya jumped up Maya leap off the branch and landed on the ground. Looking up at the brunette before sticking her tongue out and pulling her lower left eyelid down.

Naruto watched in amusement using his chakra radar to receive constant images of the two, finishing off the last of his dango. He closed the box just as the bell rang and grinned.

Both Aya and Maya stopped their mock game and looked over towards the academy. Maya hurriedly stuffed the last of the dango in her mouth just as Aya jumped down from the tree, crouching to absorb some of the impact of the decently high fall.

Naruto stood up after a moment and handed Aya the box, who took it off his hands. Aya took out the two remaining skewers and gave one to Naruto, who smiled in thanks.

"Thanks," he said softly. Soon enough the trio were walking toward the academy, ready to meet their new teachers.

"So, Aya," Maya started as she walked between the two. "What do you think of your teammates so far?"

"Eh!" Aya blinked, pausing in mid bite as the question registered in her mind. She took the skewer out of her mouth, looked over at Maya, and tilted her head to the side as a cute expression of contemplation crossed her face. "Well, I don't really know Sasuke-san or Sakura-san, so I can't really say."

It was at this time that Naruto interjected into the conversation with his very 'helpful' observation of the two in question. "Sakura is a Sasuke's uber fan girl and Sasuke is an asshole with a stick stuck so far up his butt he can't bend over." Naruto said.

"Oh? And just how would you know that?" Maya asked, looking at the blond with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile on her lips. "You barely talk to anyone around our age outside our little group." Maya said.

"Ah, well, do you remember that time when you told me it would be a good idea to make new friends?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" Maya asked.

"Well, I tried to talk to Sakura...and, well, for some reason she thought I was trying to get a date with her...and then she started talking about Sasuke...And Sasuke well...he's just a dick head."

Naruto had quite the way with words.

"But anyway," The blond continued after a few seconds, "Maya-chan...ack!" Naruto's speech was interrupted when Maya's hand collided with the back of his head.

"I said not to add the '-chan' suffix to my name!" Maya glared at the blond as he rubbed his ever growing lump on his head.

"Aya-chan, Maya-chan is being mean to me," Naruto whined, turning his head to Aya, his lips pursing up, his bottom lip quivering. The attempt at getting pity from the girl ended when Maya struck him on his head again, causing him to crouch down holding his head in pain while Aya giggled.

"You hit to hard." Naruto said.

"I know." Maya said with a arrogant smile.

"And you wonder why he's a idiot," Aya said wit a stifled giggling.

"Yea, no wonder I'm a…." Naruto trailed off realizing what he had just about agreed to, Then quickly got angry. "Oi, I'm not an idiot!" Naruto yelled.

"Keep it down, idiot!"

"Ack"

"There's no need to be so loud when we're standing right next to you," Maya said with a glare, shaking the fist she had just used to hit the blond with. Naruto rubbed his head for a moment, before standing back up and resuming his walk to the academy, grumbling about 'violent and abusive girls' all the way there.

Maya just rolled her eyes when she heard this, while Aya held a hand to her mouth as she stifled another giggle.

It wasn't long before they arrived at their classroom and took their seats. They spent the rest of the time talking – and in Maya's case, abusing Naruto – as the rest of the students slowly trickled into the room. By the time Iruka came back, the classroom was once again filled with rambunctious students.

"Now," Iruka started as he placed his clipboard his table. "Before I let you all go, I wanted to-"

CRASH!

The sound of glass shattering interrupted Iruka's speech, and as one, he and the students turned to look at the window being broken in beyond repair as a ball of cloth flew into the room. The cloth unfurled, revealing it to be one Anko Mitarashi, who was quick to hurl two kunai at the wall opposite the window she had broken.

A hand seal later found Anko standing with her fists on her hips, head held high and her chest struck out – much to the hatred of the many flat fangirls and love of the drooling males in class – as behind her a banner attached to the kunai and struck across the room read: _'Now presenting the number one sexiest kunoichi on the planet and most awesome Jounin Sensei, Anko Mitarashi!'_

"Hey brats, It's me the extremely sexy and still single Anko Mitarashi." She said whilst remaining in her pose.

Everyone stared at her, girls were glaring, boys were drooling, and Iruka had a 'what the fuck' look on his face. It wasn't until a few seconds into the silence that the sound of a single clap rang out.

"Thank you, Thank you." Anko said, bowing to the one who had recognized her greatness. Everyone else just turned to look at the person who was clapping with weird and incredulous looks. Said person felt the stares on him and stopped.

"What? So I'm the only one who thought that was a nice entrance?" Naruto asked. The class just stared at him as Anko coughed.

"Now the brats of team 11 come with me to the roof." Anko said. Maya looked toward Naruto and sighed.

"Wait!" Naruto shouted out, standing up his cloth covered face looking at the woman in apprehension. Everyone in the class looked at him as his body tensed up slightly. "Did you say team 11?" He asked.

"Yes...Yes I did Naru-chan." Anko said, grinning like a mad woman.

"That's what I thought." Naruto said. The room was silent for a moment, all eyes on Naruto. A single pencil hit the ground, signaling his retreat to the back door. Expecting this, Anko raised her right hand quickly pointing it towards him with a dark grin.

'Sen'eijash.' She thought, three snakes rushing from her sleeve, heading towards Naruto. He managed to get to the door before the snakes wrapped around his waist, arms, and chest, keeping him from moving. He was pulled back causing him to fall as he slowly slid towards Anko.

"NO! Damn you old man! How could this happen! This is game over man! Game over! I wanted to have a long life! I am so dead!" Naruto yelled out, struggling as he was pulled to the purple haired woman. "Why the fuck are you guys still watching! Help me out! She's going to kill me!"

Silence filled the room, as they all watched not sure how to take this.

"Now, now Naru-chan...You are only embarrassing yourself..." Anko said before licking her lips. In less than a moment, the blonde reached her. He was turned around, his face now inches away from her. His mouth quivered, fear clearly on his face.

"Have mercy." He whimpered.

A grin appeared on Anko's face, her eyes narrowed a bit. "Mercy is for the weak." She said, before pulling him towards the door.

"Ahhhhh!" Naruto let out a scream, before tilting his head towards Maya and Aya.

"Maya-chan, Aya-chan! This may be the last time you see me! Remember me fondly!" Naruto shouted just as he was pulled out the room. There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at the door the blond was just dragged out of, many wondering what just happened.

In the next second Naruto's head popped back in, his hands clutching the frame of the door.

"Aya-chan, I left a gift for you in my rooommmm!"

He was gone again, his scream echoing down the hall.

Then he was back once more.

"And Maya-chan don't you dare read my journaalllllll!"

He was out the room again, a few students noticed cracks on the door frame. Everyone waited a few minutes to see if Naruto was going to pop back in. After he didn't reappear, everyone looked at each other with a silent statement of 'He was telling the truth.'

Maya blinked a few times, before she grabbed her sword. She quickly dashed down the stairs before heading towards the door. She passed Iruka who was still stunned from the turn of events. She was out the door and looked down the hall only to see the two missing.

"Damn. See ya Iruka sensei!" She said quickly, before dashing towards the stairs going to the roof. Iruka blinked before he shook his head.

He looked back at the banner complete with silly strings and fireworks, before he sighed and shook his head. "Now...Who's going to clean this up?" He asked

**On the roof**

Naruto groaned as he lay flat on the top of the stairs, his body covered in bruises, lumps, and blood.He looked like he had gone twelve rounds with a kage, then got stomped on by a bull, before finally getting his ass kicked by a horde of angry women. In short, he was nothing more than a bleeding mass of flesh.

Maya was on one knee, one of her hands on Naruto's blond hair – the only part of him that was miraculously unharmed and not covered in blood – as she gave Anko a stern glare.

"Hey now, there's no need to give me such a mean look, girly" Anko said with a grin twisting her mouth. "I'm done beating on him,….for now"

'...And I thought I hurt him.' She thought, wincing at some of his injuries as she ran her fingers through his hair.

Anyways, why don't you sit down so we can get this party started" Anko suggested, giving Maya an oh-so-sweet smile. She got a wary stare in return, but after several seconds, Maya decided it would be best to just follow the woman's advice. For now.

She sat down next to Naruto, carefully picking up his head and placing it in her lap so she could continue running her fingers through his hair. She actually felt bad for the blond, and this seemed to help ease his suffering somewhat, as whenever her nails gently scratched his scalp he released a sound that was almost like purring.

Anko grinned as she studied the silver-haired girl currently tending to the beaten and bloody blond. 'Hm... she seems pretty protective of the brat, though she doesn't look too dangerous. I can deal with her if she tries to do anything.'

"Alright!" The over coat wearing jounin started in a cheerful voice, clapping her hands in front of her face. "Why don't you introduce yourself; start off with basic things like your name, likes, dreams, and any skills you may have."

"Shouldn't we wait for Naruto to wake up for this?" Maya asked. Anko shrugged with a smile.

"I have no idea." She said. Maya nearly fell over, before managed to recover quickly.

"What do you mean you have no idea?" Maya asked in disbelief. Anko grinned at her.

"What else can I mean?" She asked. Maya's eyes twitched in irritation.

'...She reminds me a little of Naruto.' Maya thought. At that moment Naruto made his presence known by groaning loudly. Maya looked back at him as he shifted.

"Hey are you ok?" She asked, her unoccupied hand touching his cheek. Naruto jumped a little bit before turning to her.

"Ugh...What hit me?" He asked, absently noticing their position. Normally, it was a position he would like very much, and would probably have groped her somehow. But considering that his body felt like he just took a beating from every woman in Konoha, he just wasn't up to it…yet. Maybe in an hour or so.

"Her." Maya said, pointing to Anko. Said woman grinned at the blond as he sat up. He stayed silent for a few moments, before rubbing his face.

"So what did I miss?" He asked

"We are doing introductions." Anko said grinning.

"What are we supposed to say?" Naruto asked.

"Name, dream, things you can do, hobbies, things like that." Anko said shrugging. "Now blondie go, hop to it." Naruto stared before shrugging.

"Um...ok...weird cause you already know my name" Naruto paused humming a bit, "Anyway, I'm Naruto Uzumaki." He started. "I like Maya-chan and Aya-chan, food, dragons, and swords. My love in this world is Maya-chan's and Aya-chan's bre..." Naruto was interrupted by a hard tap to the head. He turned his head towards Maya, not noticing the large blush that painted the girl's cheeks, before turning back to Anko. "My dream...well my ambition is to become the strongest warrior in the world and have more chakra than the Kyuubi. I'm skilled in taijutsu and Kenjutsu and I have learned quite a few jutsu. And my hobby? I would have to say is drawing and groping people of the feminine variety" Naruto said rubbing his head.

"You want to have more chakra than the Kyuubi. Why?" Anko asked with her right eyebrow raised.

"Well...I would tell you, but I can't remember because of the concussion you gave me." Naruto said grinning. Anko right eye twitched a little before, she looked at Maya.

"Fine you go." Anko said pointing to Maya.

"I'm Maya Natsume." Maya started off. She looked up slightly, placing her index finger on her lips as she thought of what to say. "What I like... well I like a challenge, training, my friends Aya and Naruto, and tigers..." She said.

"Ha I knew you liked me!" Naruto interrupted her with his gleeful exclamation. Maya was quick to pick up her katana and bashed Naruto on the head with it.

"Shut it, you idiot." She said, blushing. Anko stared at the two weirdly before shaking her head as Maya continued. "Anyway, my dream...well, I don't have one." Maya said. Naruto frowned as she said this, but remained quiet so she could continue. "My ambition is to restore my clan. I'm skilled in my clan's taijutsu and Kenjutsu style. I have at least ten jutsus in my arsenal."

'Their interaction is weird. He makes a stupid comment and she hits him. From what I've seen and know of the brat, he tries to avoid getting hit by others all together. Even when I was hitting him, he was evading a lot of my strikes. But she hits him without him even caring. I need to find out more information about them.' Anko thought. 'Hm...now the question is what exactly should I do with them.' She thought.

"Alright. Now that we got that little introduction out of the way…"

"Wait. You didn't introduce yourself." Maya interrupted. Anko raised an eyebrow at her, before a smile blossomed onto her face.

"So you want to know more about me? Very well brat." Maya growled at the brat comment, but decided not to say anything as Anko continued. "Now listen closely because I'm only going to say this once. I'm Anko Mitarashi. I love dango, sake, blood, and pointy things. I don't really have a dream, and my skills are my own."

As she finished, Naruto and Maya both turned to each other, silently communicating in a way that unnerved Anko. However, their 'conversation' didn't last long and they turned back to her.

"Now, as I was saying, you are going to be taking a test."

"What kind of test?" Maya asked, blinking.

"A survival test," Anko replied, not even bothering to hide her smirk.

"What kind of survival test?" Naruto asked.

"The kind that determines whether or not you two become genin," She said watching their expressions. Maya stared at her blankly while Naruto just scratched his head. She had been expecting more of a reaction from the two.

"We know that already," Naruto said with a smile. Anko's eyes twitched a little, than she coughed into her hand.

'Damn that ruined my fun.' She thought.

"Well, anyway, meet me at training area 44 in two hours. Bring your gear, because you're going to need it." And with that she disappeared in a puff of smoke. Maya looked at Naruto and stood up.

"She's odd," She said.

"Yes, she is. But that makes her more interesting," Naruto said, standing up and stretching his arms over his head.

"You ok? She looked like she did a number on you," Maya said turning to him. Naruto just turned his head to her and grinned.

"I'm fine. I managed to lessen the damage on each of her blows so, I barely felt it." Naruto said. Maya nodded in relief before looking out. She soon began following Naruto as he started stood walked down the steps.

"We got two hours to waste. What do you want to do?" Naruto asked eventually.

"I guess we could spar," She said. "But first let's get our gear and meet at training area 44. Last one there buys dinner."

"You're on" Naruto said with a smirk.

They both bent down getting ready to dash away. "Ready." Naruto started.

"Set," She said.

"Go!"

They both jumped off the roof before kicking off the wall of the academy. They landed on the ground adding chakra into their feet to lessen the impact before speeding off in different directions. 'I got this in the bag.' Naruto thought.

**Ten minutes later at Training area 44**

Landing just outside of the gates of the training area, Naruto dashed along the ground a smile plastered on his face. He now sported two kunai pouches on the back of his waist and a katana strapped to his back. He was about halfway from the wall when the image of his silver-haired friend came to his mind; she was leading up against a tree, inspecting her nails.

Slowing down, his mouth dropped in surprise. "No way."

Maya, hearing his footsteps, leaned off her post, a victorious grin playing on her face.

"What took you?" She asked haughtily.

Naruto stopped a just about a meter away from her, his head tilting as his right hand rose up, his index finger extended in accusation. "Yo…You cheated somehow."

Maya drew back slightly at his comment. "No I didn't," She shot back defensively. "Don't get mad at me because now that you have to pay for dinner." She pointed at him looking down at him sourly. How in the hell could you possible cheat in a race like this anyway? It's not her fault, her house just happened to be closer.

Naruto made no comment. Sure he was mad, but he had no proof of it. So as most people said, silence was golden.

Maya dropped her hand before leaning her katana against the tree. She walked toward him, the slight insult already put behind her. "So, which is it Taijutsu or Kenjutsu?"

Naruto's hand dropped, frowning at his lost. "Taijutsu." He grumbled his response.

"Taijutsu it is!" Maya said, her glee at his choice was not lost on him.

He would make her regret being that happy.

He turned so his left side facing Maya. His legs were spread out and bent a little with him resting his weight on his right leg. His left arm was pointing straight down while his right was bent so that his arm was pointing at her near his stomach.

Maya got into a similar stance, except her left arm was facing Naruto, with her forearm bent upward toward the sky.

Figuring it would be hard to track her completely with constant chakra waves, Naruto used his chakra to make a mental lock on to her. He then inhaled hoping he wouldn't accidently hit a tree. They stood waiting few seconds, seemingly sizing each other up.

A few stray leaves passed near them, being pushed by a good breeze. The match began, the final leaf rolling into Maya's right foot. Maya rushed forward, quickly closing the small distance between them. She aimed her right fist at the young boy, before firing a jab toward his nose.

Naruto's response was almost instantaneous. With a lean of his body to his right whilst simultaneously swinging his left arm up, he managed to tap her fist with the back of his. This movement effectively altered the course of her attack completely. He could hear the wind rustle in his ear as something passed by him.

The crackling of wood echoed in the near empty area, the two who could hear it were too much involved with each other to actually pay attention to it.

With a twist of his body, Naruto brought his right arm hurling around, aiming at Maya's chin. The girl ducked down, avoiding the punch that would have clearly taken her off her feet, while going into the motion of a spin. She lashed her leg out, spinning like a top as she tried to sweep his legs from underneath him. Alas it was not meant to be. With a well-timed leap backward, Naruto successfully dodged her attack. A smile appeared on his face as his feet touched the ground. This would be a good workout.

Dashing back at Maya, Naruto swung his right foot fast, the tip of his sandal grazing the ground. The image of her sliding around his foot to his right side came to him. His head turned to her and in a split decision, Naruto leaned forward as an air-cutting jab was thrown at him. The hair on the back of his head swayed roughly, the feeling of wind brushing up against his head.

His foot hit the ground and he burst into a roll evading a hook to his back. Getting to his feet, he turned to Maya who quickly continued her offensive rush. With a smile, the blond ninja stepped back preparing for her.

If there were any onlookers they would claim that the two was an even match. Maya being the more nimbler of the two was able to lash out with faster combinations of attacks while skillfully dodging any and all attacks sent at her with reflexes unseen in most her age.

The blond however was nothing to laugh at. Naruto's movement, while not as nimble as his teammate was great enough to keep him safe. His strength seemed to be greater in the reading and countering of her attacks.

His body seemed to glide with hers, matching her moves as if they were stuck in a beautiful dance of fist.

With each diverted or dodged blow a cracking sound accompanied it. Trees, the ground, the gated wall behind the pair gave way to fist sized dents. The two merely continued their party neither giving way to the other. Sweat dripped and flew off the pair, punches and kicks lashing out only to ultimately miss their target.

The battle between the two climaxed, as Naruto's dished out attacks at an increased speed. Maya, soon found herself on the defensive, diverting and dodging everything she could by a small margin. Smiling at his improvements, she leapt over a leg sweep, rolling her body in air before coming down with a heel kick. She needed him to dodge it, that way she could reverse the roles again.

It seems that she wouldn't get what she wanted.

A smile graced Naruto's sweaty face, his hands wrapping around her foot and ankle as he rose, countering her momentum. He was quick to spin his body, dragging the airborne girl with him in circles. He shot her off towards a tree wondering if she would be able to right herself. He wasn't really trying to hurt her now.

His worry instantly vanished, the image of her flipping mid air, before landing horizontally on the tree came to his mind. A grin played on his face, whilst he prepared himself.

Maya stared at the young blond, before abruptly bursting from the tree. She twisted in air, spinning like a top. Her leg came out as she reached him, unleashing a powerful kick that would fracture anybody's bones.

Naruto skillfully dodged the kick, putting a small amount of space between them. He expected such an action from her, as he expected her to continue with her charge, which she did. His left hand rose quickly, brushing her left hand off the course to his chest, which would have clearly ended this spar. With a spin of his body Naruto threw a punch towards her ribs.

Maya spun her body as well managed to roll off his fist before coming back with a elbow. The attack nearly hit but was intercepted by Naruto's hand.

They stood there pressed into their position panting heavily, Maya more so than Naruto.

"You are good as always." Naruto complemented. Maya smiled, her chest heaving.

"Thanks. The same goes for you…..It seems I need to find a new way to pass your guard again." Maya replied.

Naruto laughed at that before pushing her back while retreating. Why not give her a little rest?

Unbeknownst to both of them, Anko watched them intently from a tree branch. 'So she's also good at close combat, more so than I thought. Reflexes are on point though both seem to be holding back.' Anko thought.

Her eyes scanned the area looking at each of the fists sized dents littered the area. She wondered exactly what they were doing to cause such an affect. Using that in battle is deadly against anyone.

Anko's gaze came back to them as they went at it again, Maya starting the battle once more. She smiled brightly for multiple reasons. 'That's probably the air strike style Naru-chan spoke about. This will certainly be interesting. I wonder who came up with it.' Anko thought.

The jounin's hand rose, a kunai appearing into her delicate looking fingers. It left her fingers in the next second, coming towards the two genin.

Naruto's head turned, ignoring Maya's incoming attack. He reached out grabbing ahold of the kunai's hilt before turning his head back. He noticed Maya's fist was a few inches from his nose. It was a close call. Probably would have broken his nose. The next second they both turned toward the tree, the purple hair woman standing out for view, a glee filled smile, beaming down on them.

"You said two hours not 30 minutes." Naruto said panting.

"But you're here already." Anko replied, taking a step off the tree branch. She bent her knees a bit as she landed, absorbing some of the jolt of the fall. "Why start later, when you two are so ready to go?"

She walked towards them watching as Naruto tilted his head. Her eyes moved over to Maya, who she noticed dropped her stance before leaning over, placing her hands on her knees.

"What is….the test anyway?" Said Maya, sweat dropping from her forehead.

Anko stopped just a few feet away from them. "It's simple. Your test is to…" Anko stopped blinking. "Wait…." She folded her arms over her chest looking down. Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to remember what the test was. "Give me a sec; I know I had it in my mind."

Maya and Naruto hit the ground a second later, dirt saturating the air. "Damn it." The blond muttered after a moment, pushing himself up.

He stood up completely before turning to his friend, his right hand extended. Grabbing his hand, Maya was quickly pulled to her feet where she started to dust herself off.

'I forgot all about what to have them do... Wait, oh I know…,' Anko hummed in thought her eyes lighting up. After a few seconds, she frowned. 'No that will kill them…I think I'll just go with what Kakashi suggested.'

"Ok brats of mine. I have the perfect mission for you two." Anko said standing. They both looked at her as she drew one bells.

"So...what is it?" Maya asked.

"You are going to retrieve this bell from me." Anko said tying the bell to her belt.

"So I guessing you won't take it easy on us?" Naruto asked.

"Correct Naru-chan." Anko exclaimed smiling.

"And why is there only in bell?" Maya asked.

A dark grin appeared on Anko's face, showing her evil intent. "Because who ever get the bell gets to become a genin."

"Ok…So we find you, fight you, and take the bell right?" Asked Naruto, who seemed unfazed by the grin.

"Exactly." Anko started. Her face lit up with excitement and slight mischief. "Wait….lets make this interesting game. You also have to touch the tower with the bell." Anko nodded looking at the faces of the two genin.

Maya and Naruto turned to each other, each humming. This caused Anko to raise her right eyebrow at them, wondering if they would back down. To most this forest was a place of terror. And if she remembered right, Naruto had experienced that horror once before. A smile appeared on her face, memories pooping in her head.

They turned their heads back to her snapping her attention back to two. "Can we get five minutes rest before we start?" Maya asked.

Anko nodded, why not. They put on a good show for her. She got a good idea of how hard she'll have to try when fighting against them. And with that, them passing or not would be all up to her. She looked away tilting her head a little a tooth grin appearing on her face. Ah, choices, choices.

At that, two butts hit the ground, causing a light thump to echo slightly in the area. They both panted, Naruto leaning back on his arms as he relaxed.

Maya joined him in the same matter. Raising her left hand to her blouse, the girl grabbed the top and started fanning her hot body with the fabric.

Anko looked over to Naruto noticing he was doing the same. She hummed lowly wondering how long these two have been together, their body movements were similar. Maya's was well more feminine than Naruto's but yeah they mirrored each other. She needed to find out more about her anyway. From what she was told she has been his best friend since…for a while. She saw Maya wipe her face with a cloth she drew from her pouch before handing it to Naruto. He did the same with a smile before handing it back to her.

"So….um Anko-sensei, what do you think about our taijutsu?" Maya asked. Anko smiled at the girl. So she knew she was there, her senses are superb.

"I found it interesting. Both of you are quite the little speedsters. Your reflexes are top notch. I actually wondered how you two would be but considering everything I read I should have nothing to worry about." Anko explained.

"What you read?" Naruto asked. "What did you read? I hope it wasn't anything revealing."

"Not really. Just how horrible your grades were. The more physical exorcises was what you seemed to excel at." Anko said.

Naruto hummed, thoughtful mulling over what she said. He guessed there was more but she didn't want to say.

"And me?" Maya chimed in.

"Top of the class, rookie of the year. Even the prodigy Sasuke didn't match you." Anko started recounting what she read, slightly bored. "Everything was good, from your grades to fighting skill. Even when you first entered you were skilled, so it only made sense that you got better."

Maya leaned her head back again looking up at the sky with slightly narrowed eyes. She sighed taking the thought of her mind before glancing at Naruto. A smile appeared on his face before his head turned to her. She had to wonder what he was thinking about, but knowing him, it was about the woman's boobs mixed in with this test. If she asked him, she would have been completely correct.

Naruto was content with everything. His thought process was focused on how he was going to grope her in this situation without getting beat up for it. After all he could do the tradition revenge for beating him like that….but that's too traditional. Groping her again would at least allow him to feel her breast this time. Oh well, he would figure it out somehow.

The five minutes seemed to pass quickly but it was enough for the two preteens. Naruto stood up first followed by Maya. They looked over at Anko who expressed her glee at what she would be doing with a smile. "Ok. Now that you two are rested…. follow me!" Anko exclaimed loudly her hand flying into the air.

Maya raised her right eyebrow before looking at Naruto. Maybe 'she' was the bad influence on him. Anko walked forward and Naruto followed without hesitation. Maya followed after her friend, grabbing her sword in the process and wondering if this was a good place to be. She heard quite a few things about this area 44 also known as the forest of death. She wondered if those rumors were true.

They walked around the wall until she came to an open gate. "Now the rules are simple, you go into the forest five minutes before I do." She explained a little too cheery. Maya was slightly thrown off by it but did nothing to indicate it. "After that I come in and hunt you down. Other than that anything goes." The jounin looked at the two, giving a moment for any question, complains, or life stories they wanted to tell. There was none, so with a raise of her hand and a smile she shouted, "START!"

Both Maya and Naruto ran into the forest at once, dust lifting from the ground in their wake. They jumped up into the trees and headed in a straight path.

"Hey….you wouldn't happen to know exactly where the tower is?" Maya asked slightly curious.

"Yeah….I just happened to have been in here quite a few times. It's actually not that far. We could get there in less than an hour if luck goes our way." Naruto replied.

Maya raised an eyebrow at that. "What would cause our luck to go the other way?"

"A few things here….but hebi would be probably be the worst case." Naruto said.

"Okay so lets make it there in thirty." Maya said picking up speed.

"As you wish Maya-chan." Naruto said, grinning in delight, as he sped up. Maya stared at him touching down on a branch before jumping off. She shook her head deciding to put her mind on other things.

"Question….Why is she calling you 'Naru-chan'?" Maya asked, slightly annoyed by the nickname.

Naruto shrugged. It was better than the other nicknames she gave him. "Don't know. She has always called me that since we first met a few years ago."

"Okay…. Why didn't you tell me about her?" Maya asked next.

"Well. I figured you wouldn't want to meet her." Naruto said anxiously.

"And why is that?" She replied suspicious of his tone. Naruto's head turned to her a blush on his face.

Naruto fidgeted a bit, "Well….um…." He started nervously. "Her boobs are bigger than yours." Shock and confusion filled her mind so much so that she lost footing as she landed. Naruto was fast enough to reach her and grabbing her waist, effectively saving her from a big fall.

Her head turned to him quickly as he stabilized her. "Why would that have anything to do with me meeting her?" She gritted out trying her hardest not to hit him for such a comment.

"Well….I noticed girls tend to get upset when they compare they breast to other women" Naruto began backing up from the girl. "…Like this one time I was walking with Minako right. And she saw Yugao-chan. She stared at her breast harder than I ever did and then she got all depressed wishing her boobs would grow." Naruto ended, tapping his index fingers together. Maya glared at him her mouth twitching.

"Naruto….That doesn't matter to me…Besides I am only 12 right now. I'm not even finished growing yet." She said. Naruto nodded in understanding.

"Ok….. Sorry." He apologized scratching his head.

Maya shook her head letting out a sigh. "Lets continue on." She said. With that she jumped off the branch. Naruto smiled and followed after her.

They moved fast, scaling a little higher in the trees. They had no trouble so far, so it was alright, it was like a basic stroll through the park. The forest didn't seem as dangerous as the rumors said, at least for now.

Maya turned her head back to Naruto, her mouth opening. "Do you have a plan for this or is it my turn?"

"Well, you did it last time so it's mine now. I'll come up with one soon." Naruto replied calmly. He suddenly frowned, grabbing the hilt of his sword and jumping in front of her. His movement was fast, leaving Maya with only a few glints of reflecting light, making her aware that he unsheathed his sword. The beauty of his flowing movement was not lost on her as he landed purple blood dripping from his blade. Maya stopped just on a tree branch behind him and watched as the remains of what looked to be a mass of slug chunks rained down. He took out a cloth and wiped the blade before sheathing it.

"Cool. But I could have done it better." Maya said, a challenging grin on her face. Naruto turned his head back and smiled at her challenge.

"If we get another chance…I'll let you handle it"

"Alright." Maya agreed as they continued their progression through the forest.

After a few minutes Maya looked back. "She just entered the forest." Naruto took on a serious expression while creating a T like hand seal.

'Kage Bunshin no jutsu.' He thought as four clones appeared in four separate puffs of smoke. They ran into the forest and positioned themselves in what they would call good hiding positions.

"Alright… They should give us some time, she's quick and a good tracker." He said. "She'll come across here for sure." Maya nodded looking ahead. She needed to learn that technique.

**With Anko**

Anko dashed through the foliage of the forest. A few moments ago she decided to stop looking at their trail. They didn't seem to do anything to hide it so it was easy to follow. Plus they looked to just be going in a straight path.

The purple-haired jounin hummed glancing around. 'They got pretty far.' She thought.

Keeping her current pace, Anko noticed a glint of light from her right. A smile appeared on her face, her arm rising up as it reached her. He fingers wrapped around the hilt of it just before it could pierce her. She noticed it was aimed at her shoulder, which would have put her arm out of commission if it hit. Nice,

Anko stopped on a branch looking around. She kept her eyes looking in the general direction of the first kunai. The blonde was hard to spot which was interesting, considering who he was. A moment passed slowly, the smile never leaving her face. A whizzing noise caught her attention, her head turning to her left. She shifted her body, leaning back slightly watching as a kunai passed her face, her head turning with it.

THUD!

The kunai pierced the tree, wood chips flying from is place. The woman didn't stay planted in her spot for a second longer, the sound of sizzling accompanying her departure.

'Shit.' She thought. 'They're using explosives.'

**With Maya and Naruto**

An explosion rocketed throughout the forest, the leaves above the two genin shaking at the shockwave. "Seems like my clones have encounter hebi-sensei." Naruto said, leaping off a tree trunk.

Maya looked at him, it only passed just about three minutes since she entered. She was pretty fast. "How long do you think they will be able to hold her off?"

Naruto hummed, thinking about his abilities. "Not for very long." He said, ducking under a tree branch. "I'm pretty skilled but my clones take one good hit to destroy. So they should before able to last at least three minutes at the most." Naruto said.

Maya looked ahead, that would not be enough. "So we have to set up traps to buy us more time." Maya said, landing on a branch. She turned around quickly pulling out rolled up wire from her kunai pouch. She started to unroll it, thinking about how to set everything up, when the sound of something piercing flesh caught her attention. She turned her head to her left noticing the pointed leg of a giant spider. "Kyaa!" She yelled out jumping to her right.

"Don't worry." Naruto said landing on her branch. "It's dead."

Maya looked up at the black spider, noticing three kunai buried into its head/eyes. She panted slightly her shock slowly dripping away.

"I didn't know you were afraid of spiders." Naruto said chuckling a bit. Maya eyes shot to him, a mixture of anger and embarrassment on her face.

"Sh-shut it!" She nearly shouted. "I'm not afraid of spiders! That shit is huge!"

Naruto tilted his head before turning to it. "I guess it is." He said.

Maya took a breath, calming herself down. She began to mumble as she unrolled the wire. "Go on ahead. I'll meet up with you in a few minutes."

Naruto nodded, before turning around. "Be careful. Scream if you need me." Naruto said. With Maya's nod, the boy jumped ahead.

'Alright, time to have some fun.' Thought Maya, as a manic smile appeared on her beautiful face.

**Back with Anko**

Anko grabbed the last remaining clone, gripping his neck before swinging her arm around bashing him into the trunk of the tree. It disappeared in smoke and the woman looked around. She had to say they put up an ok fight separately. It took her a minute to take each one out. She wondered if there was any more in the area.

She looked around just a bit, before deciding to continue on. If there were anymore, they would pop up. Her eyes moved back towards her coat, and realized it was slightly burnt. A frown graced her face, this was her favorite coat. 'I'm going to kill him.' Anko thought.

The woman leapt from her position on the branch. She wasn't that far off course, so she would correct her course soon. She landed glancing around quickly; no clones were in sight, no flying kunai, than she was in the clear. She jumped ahead once again; she would find them.

After a few minutes of travel she stopped just short of a wire. 'That was close.' She thought taking a step back. She went stiff, her face showing surprise, the feeling of something snapping under her foot coming to her attention.

"Fuck," said Anko, a dozen kunai coming at her from all sides. Judging the situation as being easily handled, she leaped up, the kunai flying under her.

SNAP!

Her eyes shifted behind her, the view of over a twenty explosion notes, and a broken wire. 'Fuck me!' She thought, the paper being lit.

**Maya and Naruto**

BOOM!

Naruto turned around just as Maya reached him. "How many explosive tags did you put?" Naruto asked.

"About eighty." Maya said the light of the explosions catching her attention. Excitement came to her eyes; thoughts of how many more would go off crossing her mind. "She probably ran into my first set. I spread the out twenty each."

"How many did you bring?" Naruto asked surprised. There was no need for that many. Was she trying to bring every living thing in the forest towards Anko?

"A hundred." Maya replied looking at the rising smoke.

"A…A hundred?!" Naruto shouted, his mouth open in shock. "That a little overboard, don't you think?"

"Nope." She said with a casual smile, jumping ahead a second later. Naruto frowned, seeing problems down the road. Oh well, everything will be fine. With a shrug, the blond ninja took off after her toward the tower.

Ten minutes and three explosions later they arrived at the large greyish tower. Naruto stopped in front of it, Maya landing a few seconds later. "And we're here." Naruto said.

"Yeah." Maya said, slightly winded. She looked over the structure, noticing a few doors at the base in front of her. "Interesting, I wonder what's inside."

"Nothing important," said the blonde. Naruto turned to her and took in a deep breath. "She'll be here soon."

"Yeah. She rushing here, I'm surprised she didn't stop once." Maya said looking back. "You came up with a plan yet?"

"Yeah, I got something." Naruto started. "I feel like it will work fairly well against her."

"What is it?" Maya asked, turning back to her friend.

"Well it goes…"

**Back with Anko**

'Damn genin' Anko thought, landing on a branch. 'Damn explosive tags,' her eyes were narrowed, glaring ahead of her.

Anko turned her body, letting loose five kunai, into the body of a centipede. She didn't even stare off at it, as it dropped to the ground, blood leaking from its body. She leapt off the branch looking for any traps that might have been placed.

'Fucking trip wires,' Anko stopped the tower and dropped to the ground. She began walking towards the keep. 'Damn blonde haired idiot.' Anko thought blaming blondes for all her worldly trouble.

Anko heard movement and crouched down, out of sight. She moved forward into a bush before peering out, through the leaves. A smile appeared on her face, Naruto was leaning on the tower. 'Impressive, he got here in less than an hour. I guess letting him in here before was a good idea.' She scanned the immediate area, trying to spot the silver haired genin, but to no avail.

'Seems like they split up….No she's probably hiding within the immediate area.' Anko mulled over it. 'I guess I will draw her out by beating up Naruto again.' A sinister smile appeared on her face.

She rose slowly, rustling the leaves around her. She noticed Naruto's head turn in her direction and moved to 'greet' him. "What's up, Naru-chan?" Anko let out cheerfully.

"You sure took your sweet time." Naruto let out, matching her tone.

"Oh, you know." Anko started causally. "I was just taking in the sights. The fireworks were great."

Naruto grinned a little. She kept it cool for a hot head. "I'm glad you liked them. It took a bit to set them up."

"I bet it did. And for that, I'll grant you a one way ticket back to the academy." Anko replied, ever so sweetly.

"I would love to go, sweet heart." Naruto sang. "But I'm kind of allergic to non-cute girls, with their extreme like for the dark and soon to be twisted"

Anko couldn't help but smile at his reply. "I know what you mean, but I'm still sending you back." Anko said stopping a meter away from him. "So, forgive me for it, will ya?" She shifted slightly, turning a bit to her left side.

Naruto snickered at her comment, taking the time to get into his stance. "Don't worry hebi-chan." Naruto said. "I have nothing to forgive you for. After all, I'll be taking that bell….and your panties too." Naruto said a perverse grin coming to his face.

"Oh?" Anko said glaring a bit. "Let's see if your bite can back up your bark." She said licking her lips.

"Heh, it will." Naruto snickered again, clutching his fist tightly. "And I don't bark, I roar!"

"Oi! Stop your barking and show me what you got pretty boy," She smirked, making a beckoning motion with her left hand.

Naruto grinned widely, sprinting at her. He sent a chakra wave out, quickly locking onto the purple haired beauty. The image of a kunai appearing in her right hand came to him, but he did not need to panic. She would not hurt him, much. Naruto guessed right, the kunai flying pass his cheek, leaving a shallow wound in its wake.

No fear, impressive for a brat. Anko quickly put up her arms as he reached her. His incoming blow was easily blocked, but that didn't stop the next one from coming. She intercepted his left hand with her right backing up a few steps.

Naruto kept on her, spinning his body and lashing out with a roundhouse kick aiming to do a little damage to her side. If he could see, he would have noticed a haughty smirk on her face as she drew back getting just out of range of his kick. Once he got back to completely facing her, he noticed by sound that she was throwing punch of her own. He got the image of her fist, with just enough time to actually raise his hand up. Her fist was caught in his hand and without a second of wasted time he was in the air lashing out with a kick, trying to break the extended appendage.

Displaying her superior speed and strength, she broke his grasp before blocking the kick. A left hook came out at the same moment, connecting with his squishy cheek, sending him away from her.

He flipped managing to land on his feet, a feat that he just barely accomplished. He licked the blood that ran down to close to his mouth before grinning. He seemed to be excited. A shadow caught her attention and she slid back dodging the heel drop that most likely would have broke her arm if she would have decided to block, if looking at the ground that was now broken was any indicator.

Anko's eyes bore into Maya, now registering her as the bigger threat out of the two. She narrowed her eyes a little, stepping back, seeing the girl leap up, raising her leg up with a surprising speed.

Anko quickly made the judgment to lean back, eluding the attack. Anko's hair rustled roughly as her foot passed. The girl was different then she assumed. Anko had no time to continue that thought, movement behind her attracting her attention. She glanced back just in time, spotting Naruto in the quick motion of a sweeping kick.

Naruto smiled at his luck, Maya's distraction was perfect. He felt his leg push against Anko's, knocking her feet from under her. He didn't wait for her to her the ground, the signal for his retreat being the image of his buddy's foot dropping down fast.

Naruto managed to make it two feet away from Anko, before the sound of rustling clothes caught his attention. The image of the older woman rolling towards him entered his mind, a loud crack accompanying her action. Naruto quickly pivoted, before leaping toward her aiming his hands towards the bell, and more importantly her panties.

Maya crouched down, ready to leap, her head turning to her examiner. Her eyes widen briefly seeing her blond friend's body flying at her. She dropped to the floor quickly, the shadow of Naruto passing over her. She picked her head up, looking back at boy.

She got up quickly, facing Naruto before dashing toward him, his feet sliding across the ground. She rushed to his right side as he slid to a stop, his hand on his chest. He seemed hurt from what she could tell. She looked back at Anko, noticing Naruto got back in his stance. She joined him, pressing her back against his.

"What's this?" Anko let out in wonder.

Naruto gritted his teeth, a small grin plastered on his face. "Get ready, Hebi-chan" Naruto shouted.

"We're coming at you!" Maya exclaimed. Anko snorted in amusement whilst Naruto charged forward. A quick left jab came her way and she caught it with relative ease. His other fist came a second later forcing her to lean to the side.

Naruto pulled his hand back hard escaping her grip. He jumped to the left, his grin changing into a smirk.

Anko stared at him, a blob of silver entering the range of her peripheral view. Her head snapped to her right, seeing Maya in a mad dash toward her. Anko held her ground, waiting for her to get into range. She let out a quick jab, aiming for her chin.

Maya stepped towards her left, the jonin's fist flying pass her face. She lashed out with a jab of her own hoping to at least make blood fly. It was to no avail though.

In response to Maya's evasion, the young woman's left hand came up, grabbing the offending appendage. Anko noticed a smile on the young girl's face and realized she would need to teach them not to show their intention like that. She broke apart from the girl, taking a few steps back just as Maya leapt up, going for a kick.

The moment Maya landed, the purple haired ninja, rushed her, lashing out with a fast side kick. She watched the girl duck down, leaning slightly to the right. Maya's hair rose up, swaying roughly.

The next second the girl sprang up high, flipping over Anko. The woman turned quickly only to catch a hook to her cheek sending her off balance. "Fuck!" She cussed, regaining her poise.

'I was not expecting that.' Anko thought, stepping back before leaping away. She landed a few feet away and watched Naruto, who held his right hand out, move his hand to the side. A second later his friend came down, landing on his forearm, facing her. The jounin stood surprise, wondering how the blond could muster up such strength to hold her weight like that.

Anko raised her hand to her face, rubbing the spot that Naruto just hit. She was slightly impressed. That was the third time the blond had managed to hit her in the face, to date. 'I should take this a little more seriously.'

She dropped her hands to her side, relaxing her body; she would go on the offensive now. A second later the woman rushed at the two, a kunai coming to her right hand.

The two genin demonstrated everything they needed to prove to her in order to pass this little test of hers. They had adequate fighting abilities, skills, senses, and the willingness to work as a team. Each one of those categories was passed with more than a simple satisfactory.

Their teamwork is superb; Maya being the faster of the two, lashed out with quick strike and connected the strangest moves together, while Naruto gave her all the time in the world with well-timed counters, which actually managed to connect 80% of the time. Even with her superior skills she was quite hard pressed to actually land a decent hit on either of them. Not to say she didn't hit them, oh no she hit them quite a bit, but Naruto was taking more abuse then his silver haired friend. But then again, she still wasn't going full out.

She noticed as the fight went on that she never fought one of them longer than a minute before they switched who was on defensive and who was on offensive. Good plan. She was never able to get used to their similar fighting styles once and she liked it a lot.

Anko slid to her right escaping the force of two kicks. They barely got their feet back to the ground before she came around with an elbow strike. Naruto ducked under it while Maya jumped up, once again preforming an acrobatic flip before executing a heel kick.

Anko raised her hands up grabbing her ankle and foot. Naruto's movement didn't escape her notice as he reached to grab the bell. With a swing of her arms she brought Maya down toward him. She blinked in wonder, noticing he quickly changed his action.

He caught her safely in his arms before kicking at Anko, to which she blocked easily. Naruto took the moment to jump back, out of the purple haired woman's range.

"Is that all? I figured you two had more spunk then this." Anko said, a smug tone rising in her voice.

Maya was placed on her feet as Naruto flexed his fingers. Anko eyes moved to him whereas Maya began doing a few hand seals.

Naruto rushed her quickly while Anko raised her arm up. Wordlessly snakes flew from her sleeve heading towards the girl.

Maya blinked, slightly surprise and stopped her action. She tried to jump away but her action proved to be too slow. The snakes reached her in mid-air wrapping around her limps, affectively immobilizing her.

Anko's eyes went to Naruto next, who reached her in seconds. He once again aimed to get the bell.

Now the woman could let him get the bell, in all honesty, these two were more than prepared for her. She could see no problem in training them and teaching them the ropes. They proved they were ready for the next step, but losing sucks.

She moved her foot up quickly kicking Naruto in the chin. He flew up into the air blood flying from his lips.

Naruto broke his fall with a well-timed hand smack to the ground. He tried to roll away from the woman only for her foot to land on his chest. "Fuck!" Naruto let out.

"You two did very well but sadly no dice." Anko said smugly. "Now if you would mind Naru-chan, hand over the bell you just took." Anko said in a cheerful. He was faster than she thought.

Naruto smiled at her showing the bell in his hand. "I figured you wouldn't notice."

Anko smirked, chuckling a bit. "Nothing you could do could get pass me." She said.

"You think?" He replied, his lips twisting into a mischievous grin. With a flick of his wrist, the bell was sent flying towards the tower.

Anko watched it, wondering what the point was. "What good is…," her replied stopped when a hand grabbed the bell. She followed the hand up to see Maya smirking, leaning on the tower. Anko quickly looked to were her snakes were at to see Maya, who she had captured. "The fuck?" She let out confused. Did the girl know the shadow clone jutsu?

The 'Maya' that was held by her snakes was engulfed by smoke for a second before dissipating and revealing Naruto with a smirk on his face. The cloned disappeared by way of smoke a second later, causing the snakes to retract into her sleeve.

"I guess we pass the test?" Maya asked panting.

"Yes." Anko replied, surprised they won. She sighed and looked down at Naruto. "Last time I steal a test from Kakashi. It's too easy" She muttered. She stepped off the boy and rubbed her face again, her cheek still stung.

Naruto stood up slowly and moved to her side, patting her back.

"Don't worry about it. We would have won anyway." Naruto said with a cocky grin. She glared at him slightly and he turned away. He limped over to the tower with a huge smile on his face.

"You two are now my official genin team. We will start training tomorrow. " Anko recited, sounded almost bored.

Naruto tilted his head in wonder. "Why not missions?" he asked.

"D-ranked missions and I don't mix." Anko stated, before smiling. "So meet me at training ground 12 tomorrow at seven thirty. Don't be late brats!" Her cheerful tone was the last thing they heard before she teleported away in a swirl of leaves.

The two genin waited a moment, wondering if she would pop back up. When she didn't they both dropped to their knees, letting out harsh breaths.

"Shit, that was hard." Maya let out heaving, her hands on the ground.

"I know….But at least we won." He said reaching over and patting her back.

Maya looked over at him, he didn't seem that tired. "Yeah….now we have her as our sensei….at least there is no more academy." Maya replied

"Yeah thank god for that." Naruto said, laughing out loud. He coughed, the pain in his body overtaking him for a moment.

"You ok?" She asked slightly concern.

"I'm just dandy." He replied halfheartedly.

"Good…Because if you couldn't take this, how in the hell would you take me beating on you for groping me?" Maya asked glaring. Naruto head tilted to her as he smiled.

"Well…I could always run." Naruto said.

"Naruto, I can get into your apartment." Maya informed him.

"Oh! Come on…just let it go for now." Naruto whined.

"Not on your life." Maya replied. "Now come on….Use that teleporting jutsu to get us out of here." Maya said.

Naruto pouted before letting a sigh come from his mouth. "Fine." He said. He stood up slowly and helped Maya up. He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him before making a hand seal. In a puff of smoke they disappeared from the forest of death.

Naruto and Maya appeared on the roof of the academy. Maya blinked looking at her surroundings. "What are we doing here?" She asked.

"Aya-chan is still here. I figured we would say hello to her. It's still pretty early in the day." Naruto replied slightly moving his hand from her waist. Maya eyes narrowed quickly, feeling his hand make contact with her butt. She jolted a bit feeling his hand squeeze before moving away. "Alright lets go down…" Naruto was grabbed roughly by the collar of his shirt before being pulled close to Maya.

"Again…." Maya forced out. Naruto smiled an arrogant smile before shrugging.

"If I'm going to get beat on…I might as well get a good feel this time. Nice by the way." Naruto complimented. Maya's eyes twitched at his response, she was tired but if she let him get away with this he would do it more. She was pretty sure she could muster the energy for one more beat down.

**Down in the classroom**

"Ahhhhh!" Echoed through the area. The remaining students in the school looked toward the roof before looking at each other confusion written on their faces.

"I wonder what that was." Sakura muttered.

"Hn" Sasuke replied as Aya sighed.

'Seems like Naruto did something stupid again.' Aya thought. She rested her head on her hand while looking at her teammates. Sakura was still bugging Sasuke and the boy just sat there, ignoring all else.

Her eyes quickly shifted to the door, hearing the slow footsteps approaching the classroom. Aya waited with small anticipation, hoping that this was their teacher. Two minutes seemed to pass as slow as a common snail. But after it was up the sliding door creaked as it was opened slowly.

Aya stood up, her anticipation clearly visible on her face. 'Please, let it be our sensei, please let it be our sensei.' Her mental chant disappeared instantly when she saw the silver hair of her cousin poke through the door. Aya let out a sigh, a bit disappointed. A few second later she took a notice of Maya's current state. She looked quite beat up from her stand point, a few bruises on her arm and face.

"Whoa…" She let out a second before she spotted the blond hair of her friend. Maya was carrying him on her shoulder and he looked to be unconscious, his face covered with bruises which no doubt came from her cousin.

"Hey." Maya said, her exhausted voice matched her physical state.

"Whoa…what happened to you two?" Sakura let out quickly. Maya's eyes went to her before shrugging.

"Training.." Maya said simply. She looked over to Naruto and let out a satisfied grin. "Naruto, let's just say he was introduced to the floor…..several times."

She felt better for not really getting a hit in on Anko now.

"Um…What did he do?" Aya asked standing from her seat. Aya trekked down the stairs quickly reaching the front of the classroom.

"You know the usual." The silver haired girl commented casually. "So why are you still here?" Maya asked walking over to her. Aya moved over to Naruto's free side before moving his arm over her shoulder.

"Our stupid teacher didn't come yet." Aya huffed. Maya chuckled as the moved him over to the closest table before putting him on it.

"How about we stay here until he comes?" Maya asked smiling.

"Really?" Aya asked hopefully.

"Yeah we already finished up with our new sensei. We're free." Maya said stretching her arms out. "Ow." Her body protested a bit before she sat on the table. "Well we might not be able to do much though."

"It's alright. It'll be nice enough just to have a little conversation." Aya let out.

Maya and Aya started to talk about anything that came to mind. Five minutes passed and Naruto finally arose from his forced slumber. He used his chakra wave to see who was in the room. He saw Sakura and Sasuke looking at Maya and Aya. He let out a low growl noticing Sasuke's blush as he looked at Maya. Maya heard this and looked at Naruto.

"Are you finally up?" Maya asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Naruto said getting up. Naruto rubbed his right hand finding it the part of his body that stung the most. "Ow. Maya-chan have you ever thought that you abuse me a little too much?" Naruto asked. A second later the katana hilt poked the back of his head.

"Do you ever get tired of feeling on me?" She asked.

"No." Naruto said.

"So no, the thought never crossed my mind." Maya replied glaring slightly.

"Eh! But your body is nice and touchable." Naruto let out.

"What was that?" She said poking his head again.

"Nothing Maya-sama" Naruto said meekly, shying away from her a bit. He figured he shouldn't continue on with this. He needs a little while to recover from everything today. It shouldn't take him long, maybe an hour to actually get back on his feet.

"Good" She said looking back to Aya. Said girl chuckled catching Naruto's attention.

"So Aya-chan what have you been doing?" Naruto asked turning his body towards her.

"Nothing but thinking." Aya said a bored sigh coming from her mouth.

"Where's your sensei?" Naruto asked.

"He didn't come yet." She said. She sighed again as Naruto took up a thinking pose. After a few seconds he lifted up his right index finger with a smile on his face.

"Ok. Let's play a little hide and seek." Naruto said gleefully.

"Hide and seek?" Maya and Aya replied curiously

Sen'eijashu- Shadow snake hand

Kage Bunshin no jutsu- Shadow clone technique.

Ok. I rewrote the chapter. So I'll have to rewrite my second one pretty soon it seems since I changed quite a bit about it. Haaaaa I hope this is better than before.


	2. Hanging around and the start of training

Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Naruto or Tenjou Tenge**

"Normal talking"

"**Demon/Summoning talking"**

'Normal thinking'

'**Demon/ inner Sakura thinking'**

* * *

Naruto, Maya, and Aya stood behind the academy, near a batch of trees. "Okay, so this is how we will do this." Naruto began. "Whoever is it, has to find the other two. We can't leave the school grounds. Weapons that can be used are swords, no projectiles, and no jutsu."

"Wait a second." Maya said, confused. "Why would we need weapons for hide and seek?"

The smirk that appeared on Naruto's face allowed her to take a small guess that this as no ordinary game of hide and seek.

"I am so happy you asked that question, my dear." Replied Naruto cheerfully. "In this game, we each will put something up for grabs. Like your sword, forehead protector, or my book." Naruto pulled out a black leather book, which is closed tightly by clasp for example.

"What would be the purpose of taking the object?" Came Aya's inquisitive question. Naruto turned his head towards her, clearly happy with the question.

"Another excellent question." Naruto sang. "It in turn would be type of insurance that we were caught." He explained. The blond tilted his head up in thought for a second before grinning. "I guess this is more like capture the flag than hide and seek." Naruto turned his head towards Aya and nodded. "Anyway, you can use any means to take our 'flag', stealing, fighting, etc."

Maya stared, slightly disturbed by this. Did they not just finish fighting? Couldn't she rest for like an hour, before they started this?

Letting out a sigh, the silver haired girl leaned back against the tree, looking off to the side. Her eyes held no interest for this. "Ok….So, do we each go after each other?" Maya asked. Naruto turned to her frowning.

"Don't sound so enthusiastic." Replied Naruto sarcastically.

"Well I'm sorry. We didn't just waste a whole lot of energy fighting a jounin for our test." Maya retorted, rolling her eyes.

"That's why I decided on this. So we can have a little rest before anything else." Naruto said.

"Yea, yea, yeah, now answer the question." Maya said. Naruto hummed turning his head toward Aya.

"Nope. It's still…..Wait, yeah. That would work perfectly." Naruto let out happily. Maya eyelids dropped a bit, giving him a blank look.

"You don't even have all the rules down yet." Maya said.

"So?" Naruto shot back dismissingly. "Anyway, we each have a 7 minute window to find a start area. At the end of the seven minutes, we will begin the count-down to our start, which will be a minute." Naruto said nodding.

"Alright, should we present the objects we will be fighting for?" Aya asked with a smile. Naruto turned to her and nodded.

"That's an idea." Naruto said. "I'll use my book." Naruto said holding it out. Aya hummed in response, looking up at the sky. After a moment she looked down nodding, digging into her pocket.

"I'll use this." She said, showing a palm size good luck amulet. The rectangle charm is covered by a blue cloth, which is decorated with flower designs. A golden color rope was tied around the top, keeping the talisman inside the covering.

Maya stared for a second, both of them turning their head towards her. She let out a small smile before holding her katana out. "I'll use this as my flag." She said, jadedly.

Naruto nodded, letting out a sigh. "Alright, now that we are agreed, let's head out." Naruto said, highly excited. Both of them nodded, before all three of the preteens disappeared, vanishing in a blurred.

Naruto stopped at the track, deciding to wait there. It took him about 2 minutes to get there which means; he had just about 6 minutes left. He plopped down on the ground a second later; deciding to rest down for a bit.

Naruto sat up, counting down the last 10 seconds in his head. deciding to stand once he reached one. He stretched a bit, looking off at the school. He turned his head a little towards the building. Thinking about the two of them, Aya-chan would properly position herself somewhere near the school. Maya, she probably didn't move too far off, her attitude was enough to tell him that she wasn't too into this. Gathering his chakra to his forehead, the blonde shot it out as he began to move, looking for his two friends.

Naruto strolled off toward the school, the decision made to find Aya first. Naruto hummed a bit letting his mind wonder about the simple things in life. Like, why Hebi-chan hadn't wore any panties today. He thought she sported a thong earlier when he slapped her butt, but when he tried to take them off, he noticed there wasn't any straps. Weird, he should not ask her about them, he'll get his ass beat. Wait, she had to know he knew. There was no way she couldn't feel his hands. Oh well, thank goodness Maya didn't notice.

A huge smile came on the boy's face, what fun, oh what fun, he would have. A hum left his mouth, his smile disappearing. He spun quickly, his left hand lashing out, grabbing onto the sneaky appendage. "Nice try, Maya-chan." Naruto let out.

Naruto lips twisted in a grin, the image of the scowl that was present of her face appeared in his mind. "I don't get why you tired, you can't sneak up on me." Nartuo mocked.

Maya's scowl quickly changed into a small smile. "Well, fortunately that wasn't the plan." Maya replied. Naruto tilted his head slightly confused.

His mouth dropped in realization, his silver haired friend's hand ripping from his grasp. His right hand went to his hilt as he jumped to the right. The sound of feet landing softly on the ground entered his ears. Naruto landed a second later a chakra wave alerting him to the newcomer.

It was Aya, of course. But this time she had her katana out, the blue sheath, nestled under a makeshift strap made from a white obi, now around her waist.

Naruto's mouth twitched. He realized quickly, what was going on. "Really?" Naruto let out, spreading his legs. "You two are double teaming me?" A smirk appeared on his face, his stance lowering just a bit. "Bring it."

At that Maya laughed out, her voice echoing throughout the area. Her cousin on the other hand quickly took her stance, spreading her legs shoulder length apart. Her right arm lowered down in front of her, the tip of the sharp blade pointing towards Naruto chest.

Maya drew her katana, the huge smile not wavering a bit. "Challenging us to a kenjutsu match? Funny." She said. Maya dropped the scabbard. She turned a bit, spreading her legs apart. She held the blade just about as low as her abdomen, the tip pointing behind her.

"Is it now?" Naruto replied back, chuckling. His chuckling stopped after a second, a frown now present on his whiskered face. "I did say we could use jutsu right?" Naruto asked, locking onto the two.

"No." Aya replied, blinking. After a second a smirk appeared on her face.

"Oh yeah, you so lost." Maya gloated.

Without a seconds delay, Naruto dashed forward. He closed the distance between them fairly quickly. Upon reaching the brunette, the young blonde, in one motion drew and swung his blade at her.

In response to his rush, Aya leapt back, avoiding the blade by a good margin. She landed, watching Maya move to action, aiming her attack towards Naruto's neck. Aya's left eye twitched, her breath slightly hitching at the sight.

Clang!

His blade bashed against Maya's knocking her sword off course. She released the breath she hadn't realized she held, before dashing toward him, slowly down just a bit, knowing he would be able to react to her.

Naruto caught the sound of footsteps heading toward him and slid back away from the silver haired girl. He twisted his body, swinging his katana at the incoming sword. His blade struck hers, sparks flying off it. A frown appeared on his face, the image of Aya being thrown off balance appearing in his mind. 'I wasn't even really trying.' He thought. Realizing she was holding back Naruto turned his attention back to Maya.

She came fast, her blade positioned to pierce him. He weaved to his right, avoiding the sharp tip. He took a few steps away from her, his sword rising quickly intercepting the sword coming for his chest. He quickly pushed her blade back, sending her stumbling a bit.

Naruto's attention quickly went to Aya, who had made her way behind him. He spun quickly, bringing his arm up for an overhead strike. The attack was promptly blocked, but he kept up the pressure, trying to push her to her knees. He heard her grunt lowly, straining herself in order to kept him at bay.

"You're open!" Maya let out, appearing under him, her sword reeled back. Naruto's growled, his sword sliding down Aya's. Naruto made the split second decision, to stab his katana into the ground, stopping the progress of her blade. He turned his head back to Aya before flipping over his sword. The image of Maya sliding around his blade appeared in his mind, his blade ripping from the ground.

Maya watched, the blonde doing two backflips, ending in a crouch a few meters away. A smile came to her face as she stood. "I have to say, pretty good." The girl praised.

"You should already know this Maya-chan." Naruto replied proudly. "There isn't much I can't kick your lovely ass in." Maya snickered, almost expecting such an arrogant reply.

"Then let's continue." Maya challenged. She glanced back at Aya giving a little hum. "Stop holding back. Naruto can take it." Aya looked at her, stunned that she figured it out.

"But, the two of us…"

"You know him; he wouldn't be this arrogant if he couldn't back it up." Maya said. Aya stared at her blankly before turning her sights on Naruto.

"Yes he would." The brunette replied, surely. Maya turned to her slightly surprise, before smiling, laughing a bit.

"Then, let's test it." Maya dashed off first, barely giving her cousin any time to agree. Aya followed a few seconds after.

Naruto grinned, before he dashed away, heading back to the track. The soft thumps of their feet alerted him of their position behind him. He chuckled, wondering what got Maya so in to this. He avoided a tree, spinning around it and pressing his back against the jagged bark. He held his breath, the Natsume cousins dashing by him. The sliding of Aya's heavier feet, informed him that he was noticed.

Naruto charged forward, the air pressing against him. Aya swung first, which the blond predicted. He flipped over the brunette landing in-between the two girls, facing Aya. A grin came to his face, his body twisting, his sword lashing out toward the silver haired girl behind him.

She blocked it with relative ease, which he expected. With a burst of speed, he spun his body, lashing out towards Aya's leg. He heard a small grunt, the sound of flapping clothes followed. 'She jumped.' He thought. He ducked quickly; his hair ruffling roughly, something that he guessed to be a leg, flying over his head. Naruto didn't stay stationary too long, opting to attack Maya.

The young man found that it was quite the chore going back and forth between the two girls. He was in no real danger; he kept them both on the defensive, with quick spins, precise and well-timed strikes. Maya was already tired out, so she kept her blocking without even a hint of counter attacking. Aya on the other hand, was lashing out with kicks and punches which Naruto evaded easily enough. He had to wonder if this was a kenjutsu or taijutsu match.

The blonde spun quickly, lashing out with his sword. He intercepted Maya's blade which came down upon him. He had no time to contemplate her decision to attack now, the danger of an attack behind him coming to his attention. Making the split second decision to duck proved to be a good decision, Aya's leg flying over his head.

Naruto rolled backward, ending in a crouch before leaping back. The audible sound of pants moving came to him, the image of Maya upon him quickly following. The blonde evaded her attack easily, her tired state making her a little bit sloppy. Ending up behind the girl, Naruto dashed towards the brunette. Leaping at her, his sword held up.

Their blades clashed, Aya quickly fending off his attack. Landing behind her, the young man spun around, aiming to sweep her legs. The sound of her feet pressing off the ground came to his ear. She jumped back. His motion completed, Naruto dashed at her, swinging his blade when in range. His attack was blocked by another blade, his head turning to his left.

His head turned back to the brunette just in time for her foot to smash into his chest. A grunt left his mouth, as he stumbled back. Regaining his footing the boy leapt back, sounds of clothes alerting him that one of them gave chase. Naruto raised his arm up, the image of the blue eyed girl appeared in his mind.

Crack!

Naruto grunted, Maya's foot smashing against his wrist. His grip weakened, the blade dropping from his hand. Another foot smashed against his cheek, lifting his feet off the ground. Naruto flew to the left, his body twisting before he landed on the earth his katana in his left hand. Rotating his right hand around, the blonde winced. A grin appeared on his face, a chuckle leaving his mouth. "I guess that was useless." Naruto said.

"Yeah. Very." Maya agreed with a smile. "But you suck in swordplay anyway." Naruto frowned standing up.

"He's alright." Aya interjected. Maya looked at her and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah…for a beginner." Maya taunted. Maya's eyes shifted towards the ground, spotting Naruto in the middle of his dash. She gave a toothy grin, moving her sword down, blocking his attack whilst she backed up. Her eyes moved to Aya's and she winked. She looked back at Naruto and moved her sword in its path.

Maya started to sweat, a lot more then she originally was. Though she was faster than the boy, she couldn't find any type of opening to counter attack. Her arms were actually starting to hurt, from the constant blows. She twisted her body and jumping to the left, he followed no missing a beat. She landed, quickly swinging her blade upward, hoping to stop his advancement. It didn't work to well.

Naruto evaded, planting his sword into the ground before using it to spin and swept her legs from under her.

Maya gritted her teeth as she begun to twist her body, trying to land on her hands and knees. Her plans were interrupted by a firm hand on her back, gripping her blouse. She was swung around before being tossed, towards a tree. "Whoa!" She let out, flipping. She managed to safely land on the tree. With a simple front flip, she took a new position on the ground, ready to go on the offensive. Or so she thought.

Once again Maya was forced to raise her katana in defense, blocking an overhead swung. She stared at Naruto holding back his sword as he tried to force it down on her. "Damn….ugh" She let out, her knees slightly giving way. "I didn't think you would get mad at that."

Naruto stopped adding pressure on her sword, "huh?" He let out. "I'm not angry." He added more force as she grunted.

"Then…What's up with the relentless attacks?" She asked, gritting her teeth. Naruto grinned, a thought coming up.

"Easy." He said, quickly drawing his sword back, his left hand leaving the hilt. He scooped under the sword, grabbing it and ripping it from her grip. "So I can do this….Now it's 15 to 14." Maya growled letting her hands drop. "Mad?" He gloated taking a step back. He looked at her sword chuckling. "Soon I'm going to…." Naruto's grin fell, feeling movement in his pouch.

Naruto moved quickly, turning slightly while swinging his arm out. The image of Aya stepping back appeared in his mind. Her hand was up and his black book was in her hand. Naruto stared, shocked at the turn of events. "I got your book…" Aya said stepping to him. She took Maya's sword from his hand and looking at Maya, she smiled. "And I got your sword. So I win."

Naruto mouth twitched, losing all energy to stand, the boy dropped to his knees. The genin threw his head back, his hands raised, his fingers clutching the air. "NOOOOOOO!" the blonde screamed, his voice echoing throughout the area. Aya covered her ears quickly, her face scrunched up in discomfort.

Maya's foot lashed out quickly, striking the blonde on the back. "Ah!" He let out, his face landing in the dirt, sword out of hand.

"Why are you screaming?" Maya asked, displeased with the ringing in her ears. Naruto was up a second later, his face a few inches away from hers. Dirt fell off his whiskered cheeks, a scowl on his face.

"Why in the living hell did you kick me!" Naruto asked, his voice elevating. Maya glared, not liking his volume.

"Why the hell were you yelling? Do you even understand how sensitive my ears are?" Maya retorted.

"Not as sensitive as my ego!" Naruto let out.

Maya's arms rose, her hand pressing against Naruto's chest. With a hard push, she shoved the boy back a few steps. "You get beat all the time, what does one more matter?" She asked. Naruto recovered easily, growling.

"I get beat all the time?" Naruto asked, angrily stalking back over to her. "Then what about that time we fighting over that two headed coin huh? And that time…" Naruto stopped, turning his body quickly. He leapt at Aya, "Good Job, Aya-channn!"

The girl expected this, seeing this quite a few times prior. She quickly stepped to the side, leaning her body away from his arms. Naruto flew by her, her eyes following his body. He recovered fairly quickly, his body arched to roll upon impact with the ground. She nodded in awe as he ended in a crouch. "Pretty good, Aya-chan." Naruto praised, standing. Aya grinned, blushing at his complement.

"T-thanks." She let out. He turned to her a grin plastered on his face.

"He's going to try again." Maya said nonchalantly. Aya blinked, Naruto's lunge coming a second later. She ducked in the nick of the time, dodging the blonde once again. The tree behind her shook roughly, the body of the boy ramming into it.

"Ugh!" Naruto let out, falling to the ground. Aya stood up and looked behind her, slightly flinching at the impression in the tree.

"That had to hurt." She whispered, her cousin walking up next to her.

"Yeah." She agreed, nodding her head. She looked at her, rubbing her right arm "Want to go back inside? Your teacher might have arrived." Aya looked at her before looking at Naruto, who was slowly making his way back to his feet.

"I don't think he came yet, but checking is fine." Aya said.

"Damn you, Maya-chan." Naruto muttered, the sting of pain pinging his face. "How dare you snitch?"

"What was that?" Maya asked. Naruto turned to her scowling.

Naruto wanted to scream out, 'You snitched', but he just wasn't up to it right now. He wasn't really drained or anything, he just didn't feel like it….right now. "Nothing." He said.

Naruto walked over to his sword, scooping it up before sheathing it. A surge of pain ran through his wrist, his left hand quickly gripping it. "Ow." He let out. Maya looked over at him, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Come on Naruto, I didn't kick you that hard." Maya said. Naruto turned to her, hissing a bit.

"The hell you did. I heard a crack." Naruto growled.

"Heh! Stop being a bitch." She let out, turning her head from him.

"Hmph," was Naruto reply before he turned and started making his way to school. Maya hummed, walking over to her sheath and picking it up. She walked over to Aya and retrieved her sword. Sheathing the blade Maya began her trek after Naruto, Aya walking by her side doing the same.

It didn't take the two very long to catch up to Naruto. He was still nursing his wrist, when they reached him. "How's your chest?" Aya asked, her voice contained genuine concern. Naruto hummed taking his left hand from his wrist and placing it on his chest.

"Hm…." Naruto let out rubbing sternum. "Stings a bit, but I'm fine." Naruto said. A relieved sigh left her mouth causing Naruto to smile. She didn't even hit him that hard.

"That's good." Aya said.

"Yea, now if only my wrist WASN'T BROKEN!" Naruto let out, turning his head to Maya.

Maya glared at him, "You act like a baby some times." Maya said. A grin appeared on his face, his head turning to her.

"I know." He said. "And some babies need to be spoiled." Aya laughed at that, Maya on the other hand raised an eyebrow.

"No. Spoiling babies makes them into a brat." Maya informed.

"Yeah your right, Maya-chan." Naruto replied. Maya started at him. A sigh left her mouth and she looked away.

"I would hit you….but I'm too tired to care." She said. Naruto looked at her, a huge smile on his face. "I will hit you if you grope me." Maya glared at him, daring him to try. Naruto leaned over to Aya, cupping his mouth.

"Aya-chan….I think she can read minds" Naruto said. Aya leaning in as well, also cupping her mouth.

"I don't think so. You are just really predictable." Aya whispered. Naruto jerked away from her, gasping loudly.

"I am not predictable." Naruto exclaimed offended. Aya giggled rolling her eyes.

"Yes you are." Aya said. Naruto face scrunched up, his nostrils flaring.

"Then what will I do now?" He asked.

"You are going to try and grope me to prove your point….and fail." Aya said nodding. Naruto hummed, she was right….that was the idea.

"Dang, you're right. Well almost." Naruto said rubbing his chin. Aya stared at him, blinking a couple of times.

"Huh…Kya!" She let out, a hand smacking her butt.

"Yeah…I don't fail" Naruto said smiling brightly. Her eyes widen, her right hand lashing out towards the boy. Naruto was quicker though, ducking under the strike before dashing forward, Aya hot on his tail.

Maya watched them, a grin on her face showing her amusement. Naruto ducked and weaved through Aya's flailing arms, avoiding all damage from the girl. Maya began laughing; Naruto's weaving put him in awkward yet funny positions. Maybe being tired was enough of a tradeoff for a show like this.

A breeze blew through the area, the shadows of leaves shifting across the ground, the sounds of the rustling foliage bearing over all other noises. A little way off, a figure shifted, flowing with the shadows of the forest. Standing a height of 5 feet 9 inches, the person stared down on them from its elevated position. Only the metal of the konoha issued forehead protector could be made out, if they were actively looking. Brown eyes stared down, watching as Naruto dodged capture from his friend. "Have all the fun you want, young fox. Vengeance will be upon you soon." It came out as a whisper, a whispered that the sounds of nature blocked out. With another breeze, the shifting of the leaves hid the disappearance of the shadowy figure.

Naruto stopped, his head tilting up. A grin appeared on his face, the breeze gently

caressing his cheek. 'Young fox? That's a new one.' Naruto thought. He turned his head just before hand slapped his face. "Owch!" He let out, falling to the ground, his cheek stinging red with pain. The image of Aya came to his mind, her angry form standing over him. "Hehehehe! Mercy please." Aya stared at him frowning.

"I…don't think I can." She replied.

He grinned nervously, "Um…ok". He got up quickly trying to dash away. 'I guess I should watch out for anything strange.'

Naruto groaned, his head lying on the desk. Naruto lifted his head up, showing his bruised face to the world. Sakura jerked away, wondering what happened. "Why did you hit me?" He asked turning to Maya.

"Just because." She replied, her voice muffled by her arms. Naruto huffed, turning away from her.

"Meanie." He let out.

"Bitch." Maya let out.

"Tight ass." Naruto replied, turning back to her. Raising her head, she glared at the blonde.

"Crybaby." Maya said. Naruto jerked slightly, tilting his head.

"Really? Crybaby? Is that the best you can come up with?" He asked.

"S-shut up. I'm tired." Maya let out.

"But you're not tired enough to refrain from hitting me." He accused.

"You hit that nail on its head." Maya said a grin on her face. Naruto frown at her, muttering something in audible to nearly all in the class.

Naruto laid his head back on the table but was forced to move his head, out of fear of the incoming damage that would be dealt to his cranium. The table snapped in half, the image of a katana breaking it in two coming to his mind. He leapt back landing on a table just behind him. "Maya!" Aya shouted, surprised.

"What?" Maya let out looking at her. "This isn't my fault." Maya rebutted. Her eyes moved over to Naruto who frowned. "It was obviously Naruto's doing."

"What? You just broke it!" He accused, a finger pointing at her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. And don't think you can push the blame onto somebody else." She stood as she replied, looking at her clear nails.

"I have a room full of witnesses!" The blonde exclaimed. Maya eyes moved to Aya, Sakura, and then Sasuke before returning to Aya. With a wink and a smile, the girl turned back to Naruto frowning.

"I'm pretty sure everyone here would agree with me." Maya said. Looking back at everyone she smiled. "Who here saw Naruto break the table?" She asked. Sasuke's hand went up first, if only to pay the blonde back for that comment earlier. Sakura's soon followed deciding to join in with the object of her affection. Maya looked at Aya, before mouthing, come on. A sigh left the girls mouth before she also raised her hand.

"See everyone saw you do it." Maya said smiling innocently.

"Ok, I see." Naruto said nodding. "Try and blame it on me when I'm not here." With a tiger seal, the boy was engulfed in a puff of smoke, his presence disappearing from the classroom.

"Whoa!" Sakura let out. "How did he do that? They don't teach it in the academy."

"A private tutor." Maya answered, absentmindedly. Looking at the table, the girl blinked before looking at Aya, who appeared to be slightly down. "Don't worry Aya, we'll meet up later." This perked the girl up, bringing her eyes to her cousin.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

Maya shrugged, "I don't have the foggiest. But I figure I'll find Naruto." Maya answered. She pointed at the destroyed table with a smile. "I'm not taking the blame for this."

"Alright." Aya replied, placing her elbow on the table and resting her chin on her hand.

Maya walked out of the row, getting to the stairs before heading up to the door. "Later," She let out, waving her hand up.

"Later." Aya said waving back.

**With Naruto **

The young blonde hummed lowly, the pointy grass under him pressing against the skin of his neck. A relieved sigh left his mouth, whilst he moved his hands behind his head. His sword was at his left side, no more than a few inches away from his body. The scent of the flowers around him filled his nostrils, his body completely relaxed.

After leaving the academy he wandered around town for a bit, finding pretty much nothing to do. He even decided to sneak into the book store to take a look at the pin up girls in the porn magazines. He was caught again, though he wasn't really hiding what he was doing. After getting thrown out of there, he somehow found his way to the center of his flower field. Funny, he somehow always ended up here.

He listened to the rustling of the plants as the light; gentle breeze blew through to the north. He cringed, a new scent entering his nose. The strong, overpowering odor forced him to cough out. "You ok?" A feminine voice came out. Turning his head to the female, he sent a chakra wave out. The image he received was a picture of Maya.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said, covering his mouth. The blonde sat up, taking in brief amounts of air.

"Ok, thought you might have somehow caught a cold." Maya said chuckling a bit. Naruto shrugged, pretty sure it was the bad smell. "So why did you come here?" she asked.

Naruto smiled brightly, standing from his seated position. "Well, you see…." Naruto stopped his sentence, his smile being replaced with a scowl. He lashed out, striking the unsuspecting girl on her cheek.

"Ugh!" She let out, flying off her feet. The girl flipped, landing on the ground in a in a crouch. She rubbed her cheek, glaring hard at the boy. "Why the hell did you hit me?" She asked, her voice filled with distain.

Naruto's head tilted slightly, his mouth twisted in confusion. "I'm not much into games." Naruto stated. He hooked his foot under his katana before tapping it into the air. He caught it, growling. "Leave my field before I kill you."

"Since when did you have a problem with me here?" Maya shouted. Naruto slid his foot back, flicking the sword, to unsheathe the blade just a bit. Naruto's right hand hovered over the hilt, his teeth grinding together.

Maya frowned sighing. She stood up, a puff of smoke engulfing her form. The sound of clothing ruffled violently, his ears catching the noise to his right. The image of the person appeared in his mind. The silver haired girl was replaced by a young man of the height of 5 ft. 7 inches. Spiky black hair moved with the wind pressing against his form. Grey eyes, glaring furiously at the boy, held no type of restraint. His outfit was that of a chunin. A kunai was in his hand, raised high in the air. If Naruto had to guess, he was aiming for his neck.

Poor choice.

The blonde gripped the hilt of his sword, pulling as the man's hand came down. The man's hand seemed to be faster, getting inches away from the boy's neck, before his blade was half way out. A blade cut through the distance between them, just in time to intercept the blade, reflecting it off the gleaming sword.

The man jumped back, dodging the quick draw from the blonde. His eyes came to the silver haired girl, who blocked his attack. Her eyes were on him, a scowl on her face. He landed leaping back once again, landing just at the edge of the center of the field. He frowned; figuring his time for attack was completely off. He aimed for now because she wasn't next to him. Now he would have to deal with the girl who's suffered more than him.

"Maya-chan." Naruto spoke, frowning at her presence. She stared at the chunin, lowering her sword.

"Sheathe your blade." She ordered stepping in front of Naruto. "I'll handle him." Naruto shook his head; there was no reason to get her involved in.

"Maya-chan, don't worry about it. I got this. Aren't you tired anyway?" He asked.

"No, not really. I was merely using that as an excuse to not do anything. But that didn't work." Maya said shrugging. "Stay here, I'll be back." She said. Naruto let out a sigh, sitting down. He kept his sword out for two reasons. One just in case Maya needed help. The second, once a blade is drawn, it must draw blood.

Oh how he loved that rule.

Maya walked forward, happy that Naruto listened. This was one of the few times she caught acts like this and she will not let it go unpunished. She lifted the sword to her mouth, biting down on the wooden hilt. "Natsume-san, hold on." The man pleaded his hands up. Maya hands moved fast, pulling the man back on guard. He watched her hands stop, the young woman inhaling deeply.

He jumped back, expecting a fire technique. He was sorely disappointed with another jutsu was unleashed upon him. Wind picked up almost instantly, a small scale whirlwind smashing into his chest. His body twisted, the whirlwind pushing him over the mass of flowers below him. He noticed the tree he was heading for and flipped, positioning himself to land safely.

Upon landing, the chunnin added chakra into his feet, the wind nearly pushing him off his new place. He covered his face, waiting for the rest of the wind to pass. After a moment, he dropped his arm watching as the girl trekked along the flowerless path. Surprisingly her attack had no effect on the white floras.

Maya stopped outside his field, taking the sword from her mouth and sheathing it. She looked up at the chuunin, running a plan through her mind.

"Why are you helping the boy?" He shouted his question, crossing his arms as he did so. There was no reason to worry; he was stronger than the both of them.

Maya tilted her head, wondering if his head was on right. "I'm his friend, what other reason do I need?"

"Tell me, how could you be friends with one who decimated your entire clan, drove the one person who tried to protect them out of the village?" He asked, leaping down from his post. "You were there that night, you saw everything first hand." He started to walk towards her slowly, a calculating expression coming on her face. "He killed your parents, your aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. He took them all away from you, and framed your brother for his actions." Maya looked over at Naruto and a smile graced his face.

He was getting through to the girl.

"Why does any of this have to do with you?" She asked, still not facing the man. He took a breath, his face becoming cold.

"My brother died that day as well, he was close to a girl in your clan." He stopped behind Maya, placing his free hand on her shoulder. "Allow me to kill him; I will avenge your family for you, as well as my brother." He looked at Naruto, glared hard.

If he was to relive the moment, he would say this was his greatest mistake.

Maya's shoulder left his hand, before the feel of an elbow barreled into his stomach, forcing him to bend over. He would never have guessed she was that strong. A cough left his mouth, before a palm strike to his chin lifted his upper body upward. Her hand gripped his flak jacket before pulling him back down to her height. Her left hand released his jacket, her right rearing back faster than his eyes could see. Her hand came at him, striking his throat with the area between her thumb and index finger.

He found himself having a hard time breathing, his hands going to his neck. This gave Maya just the right amount of time to gather chakra into her hand to strengthen her attack before striking his upper groin with a palm strike. "Ugha!" He let out, his hands coming to his groin, his body bending over. Maya ended her combo with an uppercut to his chin, forcing him off the ground.

Maya watched with narrowed eyes as he landed on his back, his face contorted in pain. "You must be the biggest imbecile around." Maya said once again drawing her blade. She walked over to his upper body, placing it at his neck in case he stood up, or tried anything. "Naruto is nowhere near smart enough to frame somebody. And trust me, if Naruto was the culprit, as you have stated I would know, and he would be dead. So go home, masturbate, and readjust your life onto more important things. Like becoming a jounin." She withdrew her sword before turning. "Oh…." She turned once again, and kicked him across his face. "Don't impersonate me again." She said, ignoring his groan of pain.

The silver haired girl turned, looking at Naruto who had just reached them. "Nice….Quick and easy." Naruto said. Maya nodded blowing a single strand of hair out of her mouth. It didn't want to leave it seems. Naruto stopped in front of her, moving his left hand to her face. He slid his hand to her cheek, pulling the strand with it.

"Thanks." She said, leaning her face from his hand. Naruto chuckled turning his head to the chuunin.

"I'll take him to the old man. Hopefully, the old man can stop this."

"How many times today does this make?" She asked, giving him a stern glare. Naruto quirked his lips to the side, that question he wasn't expecting.

"Don't worry about that." Naruto said, walking over to the man's neck. He reached down, grabbing the back of the barely consciously chuunin's flak jacket.

"Naruto. Tell me." She said. Naruto turned his head back to her making a seal.

"I'll be back, so don't leave me." He said.

"Hey!..."

A plume of smoke stopped her reply. She sighed, turning around. She slowly walked back to the center of the flower field. A quick thought came to her mind. Why didn't Naruto sheath his blade? She shook her head, keeping the thought out of mind. She was probably overthinking things.

Oh how wrong she was.

It wasn't long before Naruto reappeared in the Hokage's office. Sarutobi aged eyes rose from his paper work, his orbs locking on the blonde before heading to the chuunin in his hand.

"Not again" He muttered. Why did his ninja pick now to show their great distaste for the boy? How many times does he have to order them to leave him to fuck alone? The man sighed; he was too old for this.

"Sorry old man." Naruto said, shrugging. "It seems they have a hard on for me today."

"Watch your language." He said, snapping his fingers. Again two people appeared in front of the boy, both standing straight, saluting their leader.

"Hokage-sama!" They both exclaimed. From the voices, Naruto could tell, one was male while the other was female. The woman's voice he even recognized. A grin appeared on his face, at least he would get something fun out of this. Sending a chakra wave out, he received the appearances of the two ninja in front of him.

The first was a man, being the tallest of the pair, standing at a height of 183 cm tall. Black hair escaped from his head, coming just to the end of his neck. His face is covered by a white mask, decorated with colors in a way to give off the indication that it was a panda. A spiral tattoo is on his right arm, red in color, which every ANBU possessed.

His outfit consisted of the standard uniform of the konoha anbu black ops. A black, high collar, sleeveless shirt, covered his torso. Gray armor rested above his shirt, two straps moving over his shoulders. Black pants covered his legs; a bandage is wrapped around his left leg. Two pouches are attached to the back of his hips. A tanto in a white sheath is on his back, attached to his armor. Gloves covered his arm, along with metal arm guards over it.

The other was a woman, standing about 162.9 cm tall. Long purple hair trailed from her head down to the middle of her back. Her face is completely covered by a similar mask, but this mask is resembles a cat. He lithe form, held quite the curves, though not as great as someone who personifies sexy, like Anko, they were still quite the sight. Her bust was proportionate with her body, being not too big or small, maybe on the larger sizes of a b-cup. Her outfit was the same as her partner, which added on to her mysterious beauty.

"If you would…..take him to Ibiki-san, I want to know who the ring leader behind these attacks is. I'm starting to think these are not random acts." The old Saturobi stated. They both nodded turning around. Both of their eyes fell on the young boy, who now had his chest puffed out a bit, his arms tense to show his muscles. He stood straighter, almost as if trying to look taller then he actually was.

"Neko-chan, long time no see." Naruto said, a cheeky smile on his face. She looked at him, though he couldn't see it, he was pretty sure there was a smile on her face.

"Hey kid." She replied, walking up to him, her partner by her side.

'Ooooh, playing hard to get, I like' Naruto thought. "You look as gorgeous as ever." A low laugh entered his ears and mentally smiled wider.

"Thank you, but I have to wonder what you are basing that statement on." She replied. She was wearing a mask, so the only area he could base it on would be her body.

Naruto chuckled, "Come on, my sweet. I've seen your precious face before. And the ANBU look on you is wonderful. The right mix of danger and beauty, it gets my heart pumping."

This time her partner laughed. The kid had some good lyrics. "Well Naruto-kun, maybe you should get some rest. A quickened heart rate is a sign of a sickness." Neko replied.

"But I am sick." Naruto palmed his heart, pursing his lips a little. "I'm down with the disease known as love. I caught it the first day we met."

The hokage joined her partner in a light hearted chuckle, for a kid with zero love experience he sure knew how to make comebacks. It was too bad he had to end this right now, it would be bad if the chuunin awakened. With a cough, he drew everyone attention. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm sure these two have more things to do today."

Naruto turned his head to him, nodding in understanding. The old man didn't want Naruto to shame him in getting an older woman at such a young age. Understandable. "We'll talk later Naruto-kun." She said, her partner relieving the chuunin from his hand. The man looked at the unconscious ninja, frowning noticing five slashes across his torso, they were light and not life threatening, but he had to wonder just how strong this kid was.

Naruto's head turned back to the woman, a smile returning to his face. "As in a date?" He asked.

"If you want to call it that." She said. His smile brightened, flashing his white teeth.

"Yay! A date with Yugao-chan!..." Naruto jumped for joy before composing himself. "I mean, that would be enjoyable."

The room was filled with laughter, before the two ANBU vanished in a puff of smoke. Only the aged chuckle filled the room, drawing the blond's attention back his leader. After a moment, his laughter disappeared, and he looked at the boy, leaning back in his chair a little.

"Naruto-kun, please explain to me what happened." He said, after a moment of silence. Naruto hummed a bit, nodding his head.

"Well, I thinking in my garden, you know resting after the test with Anko-chan, and playing with Maya-chan and Aya-chan." He recounted, rubbing his face a bit. "He came up to me in a henge that made him look like Maya, I was alerted to it because of his smell and trust me he stunk." Naruto waved his hand in front of his nose to for emphasis. "I lashed out at him first. Since I figured the only reason he would be there looking like Maya-chan was to attack me. He struck back at me but Maya-chan came to my aid. She beat him down, than I came here." Naruto finished, nodding his head.

"Maya-san intervened this time?" Sarutobi asked, slightly surprised. Naruto nodded scratching his cheek.

"It wasn't my idea, she just took over." Naruto said. The hokage stared at him, his eyes calculating any outcome that could happen. "You don't have to worry, old man. This was the one time I wasn't on guard. I won't make a repeat of this." He said his voice devoid of any tone. The Hokage looked at him, watching as he walked over to the window.

"I'll have Neko guard you, that way nothing like this happens anymore." He said. Naruto shook his head, stopping at the windowsill, and opening the glass doors.

"I'm confident in my skills, I'll make sure to keep her away from danger."

"I'll place her to protect you. You are the target." He said. Naruto shook his head again.

"I don't need protection. Besides I'm pretty sure her skills are better served elsewhere." Naruto said. Rubbing his head, Naruto turned to the man old enough to be his grandfather. "If anything, I'm pretty sure Anko-sensei can keep me out of danger."

The Hokage nodded, though he still wanted to make sure. "I'll see you later, next time for our mission." Naruto said, cheerfully. The aged Satorubi smiled, nodding.

"I'll be looking forward to it." He said.

"Ja ne." Naruto exclaimed leaping from the window. The wind brushed against his form, his hair swaying roughly as he dropped, unhindered. 'Flying, the joy.' He thought putting his hands together. He gathered chakra to his feet, leaning his body closer to the building. His feet touched the building, getting stuck to it. The boy slid down, quite a bit, smiling. He was in no rush to get back. So he will run there normally.

Oh the fun.

Leaping from the tower, the blonde landed on a roof top, crouching to absorb the impact. He turned, dashing eastward, toward his garden. Let's see how long it takes for him to get there.

After Fifteen minutes of straight running no rest, Naruto arrived at the tree line before his garden. He panted heavily, his blood pumping. He slowed his breathing, walking out slowly. He raised his katana up, placing the hilt in his mouth. It was time to enter stealth mode. Sweat leaked from his pores, slowly sliding down his skin. The boy leaped into his field, landing on a pathway. His landing was silent, his body dropping to the ground. He crawled, through the path, sending out a small chakra wave. He received the blurry image of Maya, with her back turned to him, sniffing some of his flowers. She seemed to not have noticed, being preoccupied by her activity.

A mischievous smile came to his face, thought s of how he was going to prank her crossing his mind. He made no noise as he carefully approached her. He heard slight movement from her, but none indicating she noticed him. Cross, into the middle of the field, still no indication that she was aware of him. Pushing up slightly on his legs, he prepared himself.

He was now ready to pounce.

"What took you, Naruto?" Maya asked, stopping his attack. She turned to him, watching as he fell to the ground, his sword rolling on the dirt.

"Aw! You ruined it!" He whined sitting up, sending out chakra waves. Maya rolled her eyes.

"Then you need to try harder. I could sense you the moment you came." Maya gloated. Naruto pouted, crossing his arm. "Besides, I'm already used to that, you need something new."

Naruto lifted his head a bit. "Hmph." Naruto let out, turning his head away from her. She raised her right eyebrow at him, a small amused smile coming to her face.

"Come on, Naruto. Don't be mad." Maya said, moving closer to him. Naruto turned his whole body, refraining from facing her. Maya grinned before moving right in front of him, avoiding the blade on the ground. Naruto turned his body once again missing the girl moving her digit into her mouth.

A second later, she inserted said finger into Naruto's ear. "Yah!" Naruto let out surprised, his body jerking the wet, slimy sensation in his ear. He lean away, quickly covering his ear in case of a secondary attack.

A laugh burst from the girl's mouth, her hands on her stomach. "Did you see your face!" She exclaimed through her laughs, her finger pointing at his face. "It was priceless!"

Naruto turned his head to her, his mouth twitching. A smile appeared on the blond's face a second later. His right hand lashed out, tapping her chin as she laughed.

Now that was priceless.

Maya grabbed her mouth, her watery eyes staring at Naruto. Naruto chuckled, the image of her scowling face amusing him. His chuckle soon grew to a full blown laugh, his hands grabbing his sides.

Because of his current situation, he missed the girl reaching out. He barely had time to react when she grabbed both of his ears. She pulled them out before releasing them, coming back with a smack on both sides of his head. Naruto growled shaking his head, his mental image becoming fuzzy. "It tied once again, 15 to 15." Maya exclaimed, laughing once again.

It took a moment for the disorientation to leave him. He growled noticing Maya was now on her back, her laugh still continuing. A smirk appeared on his face, she was completely defenseless. He moved with haste, sliding his hands to her underarms.

"Kye!" She let out surprised. Maya looked up at Naruto her mouth slight ajar. She shook her head, warning against it. His mischievous grin smirk only grew. "Don't do it." No other words came from her mouth before his fingers started to move. Laughter escaped her mouth, clutching her arm against her body to stop his assault.

It didn't work to well.

Naruto's chuckle was drowned out, Maya's laughter increasing in volume, tears in her eyes. She rocked her body, placing her hand on Naruto's chest. She managed to push him off, turning on her stomach before trying to escape. She almost got away, only for her right foot to be captured. Her sandal was quickly discarded, his fingers rubbing up against her feet. "HAHAHA s-stop HAHAHA!" She managed out trying to crawl away from him. He pulled her back, flipping her over on her back.

"Ah, is little Mawa-cwan ticklish?" Naruto asked, though already knowing the answer. Maya's left leg flailed around; the girl unable to stop. "Oh ho-ho, lets see what else is.."

Thwack!

Naruto hit the ground, his hands going to his nose. "Hiyahh! My nose!" Naruto screamed, rolling a little.

Maya paid no attention to him, her lack of air holding her complete attention. She panted heavily, looking up at the blue sky. She was officially out of energy. She raised her arm, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Naru..to….I'm going…to kick your ass." Maya let out. She expected sometime of perverted reply, but when there wasn't any, Maya found herself curious as to his fate.

Forcing herself up, she stared at Naruto, who was on his back, his hands behind his head. "Naruto?"

Naruto tilted his head at her, smiling. "Ready for round two?" He asked. Maya gave the blonde a blank stare. She shook her head, looking over at his position

"Screw…that." She said. . She moved over to his side, before turning her body away from him, so her back was facing him.

"What are you doing?" He asked. His question was answered when she laid down, her shoulder and head on his chest. "Oh….so no round two?" He asked. Maya narrowed her eyes before sighing.

"Later." She said. Naruto chuckled, a wide grin on his face. Next time, he wouldn't get kicked.

"So Maya-chan. Did I tell you what I did after I took my picture?" Naruto asked. Maya looked at him, shaking her head.

"What did you do?" She asked.

"I met this kid." Naruto started off. "He was trying to attack the hokage, but he was going about it all wrong."

"Is there a right way to attack the hokage?" Maya interjected.

"Of course there is. Did you know the old man is a pervert?" He asked.

"Bull shit." Maya called. No way in hell, the man was a pervert.

"True story, I caught him once when I was younger. It was funny. Anyway, the boy tried to attack and fell, on a smooth floor." Naruto recounted. Maya chuckled, another such happening coming to her mind. "He blamed it on me because I was there."

"Who was he?" She asked.

"The old man's grandson. Konohamura was his name."

"Huh? So he's at that age." Maya stated, as if it was expected.

"Did you expect such….wait do you know the kid?" Naruto asked. Maya smiled, turning her head.

"Yep. I met him a few times. He is quite the funny one." Maya laughed remembering her encounters with the boy.

"Ah," Naruto let out. "He is funnier than me?" He asked, his voice slightly deeper. Maya raised an eyebrow.

"Naruto…he's eight."

A hum left the boys mouth, "So that's a yes." Naruto confirmed a mock frown on his face. Maya only gave him a blank look.

"Just finish your story."

**A few hours later **

Naruto tossed a grape across from him. The image of it getting into Maya's mouth brought a smile to his face. "Ah-ha! 23." Naruto said. He could hear the silent grinding of the grape in her mouth and waited for her to finish.

"Lucky shot." Maya said. Plucking a grape from a bag she had in her lap, the blue eyed girl took aim. Naruto began to rock side to side, like a pendulum, his mouth open wide. My brought the small oval, succulent fruit to just about eye level, taking aim. She waited tilt the right moment before tossing the grape at his mouth.

She watched as it hit his bottom lip, bouncing into his mouth. Naruto's mouth closed around it, beginning to chew the fruit. "Ha! 27, you aren't going to catch up to me." Maya gloated, her chest puffed out in arrogance.

Swallowing, the blonde smirked. "I always catch up." The two preteens started this game less than an hour ago, deciding to pass the time with a friendly contest. Maya pulling out the grapes from absolutely nowhere, deciding the terms and game itself.

"Alright, Re…Aya-chan!" Naruto cheered, recognizing a familiar scent carried by a smooth breeze. Maya reacted soon after, looking off to the right.

"I should have known." The brunette muttered, entering the pathway of the garden.

"Hey Aya. How was your meeting with your sensei?" Maya asked when Aya was in range.

"It was annoying." Aya replied, moving over to sit by her side.

"How so?" Maya asked, turning back to Naruto. She opened her mouth, leaning her body in an array of directions. Aya raised her eyebrow, wondering what they were doing.

"We had to wait for so long pretty much for nothing."

"Tell us about it." Naruto said, tossing the grab. It missed the girl's mouth by an inch. "Darn." He muttered, opening his mouth.

"Well it happened like this."

**Flashback**

_Aya sat at the table across from, from the broken table, the fingers of her left hand rapping again the desk in a steady rhythm. _

_Tap, tap, tap….tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap…tap, tap._

_The brunette was staring at the clock, her foot joining the beat of her fingers. The brunette was so fixated watching the time tick away; she failed to notice the pinked haired girls growing annoyance. She seemed to reach her peak, slamming her hands on the desk before standing._

"_Could you stop that!" Sakura shouted out, looking back at the girl. Aya's eyes came to the girl, halting in her act. She stared at her blinking. _

"_You didn't need to yell." Aya said, looking off towards the window. Sakura blushed, realizing her error. She muttered a low apology sitting down._

_Aya sighed; this was not how she wanted to spend her time. Seriously, who in the living hell was this guy? Who this late to an appointment as important as this? No message or anything warning them. She was glad those two left, they would've thrown a huge tantrum, a destructive tantrum. _

_The brunette sighed, standing up. She moved from behind the table, drawing the attention of her two teammates. "Where are you going?" Sakura asked. Aya glanced at her walking down to the front door. _

"_For a walk, want to join me?" Aya asked politely. Sakura shook her head quickly_

"_I don't think that's a good idea." Sakura warned. "What if sensei comes when you're gone?" _

_Aya looked towards the door, "Then he could wait like we did." She continued forward, reaching to slide the door open. Before she could though, the door slide open revealing a tall, silver haired masked man. _

_ Aya stared at him slightly surprised at his sudden entrance. Her shock soon turned to irritation, though she refused to show it. She crossed her arms, lightly tapping her feet. "You should have come five minutes later." She said. _

_The jounin looked down upon her, taking a guess that she was going to leave if he didn't pop up when he did. His one eye scanned over the other two who was still sitting at the table. Well, what an almost boring bunch. The jounin decided to voice his opinion. _

"_My first impression of you guy are…your boring." He said. _

_This one sentence brought on the reaction of Sakura and Sasuke's head dropping. Aya on the other hand glared at the man. She had fire in her eyes; maybe this team arrangement wouldn't be so bad after all. "Follow me." He said turning._

_Following the older man, the three soon found themselves on top of a roof of a building. Three arches attached to the building, covered six trees, metal railing going over the perimeter of the roof. Watching him lean up against the railing, the three genin decided to take their place on the stairs in front of him. Sitting on the left side of Sasuke, who took the middle position of the three, Aya looked at the one eyed man, still peeved at the long wait. _

_Kakashi stared at his would be students. "Hmm." He let out, seemly thinking about what to say. "Okay, how about we start off with introductions." _

_Sakura blinked, not expecting such._ "_What do you want to know?" Sakura asked. _

_Kakashi looked at the girl, expecting such a question_. "_Your name, your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, and hobbles." He answered. The three kids shared a look, before looking back at their teacher._

"_If you don't mind, can you go?" Aya asked._

"_Yeah….you look kind of suspicious." Sakura added, hugging her legs. _

"_Alright." Kakashi said, his lips upturned underneath his mask. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. I don't feel like telling you guys about my likes and dislikes." He stared at them blankly humming a bit. "Dreams for the future..? I have a lot of hobbies." _

_The genins stared at him blankly, before Aya and Sakura looked at each other. "So all we learned….was his name." Sakura whispered._

_With his right hand raised, he pointed at Aya. _"_You go first." The one eyed jounin ordered._

_ Aya stared at him for a moment before standing. The three watched her, wondering why she stood. "I'm Aya Natsume. I have quite a few likes, but I refuse to tell you." She started off, staring the man right in his eyes. _

'_She's feisty.' Kakashi thought, smiling behind his mask. _

"_My dislikes…..well people who aren't punctual has just become the very top." Aya looked off, thinking about the other areas. "My dreams for the future….well I want to be a part of the elite ANBU. For my hobbies….puzzles." At that, she sat down, pulling her legs to her chest._

'_Wow….Revenge is the last thing on her mind.' Kakashi looked at Sasuke, "You next." _

_Sasuke stared at his teacher, his hands interlaced in front of his mouth. _"_My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are tons of things I dislike, but I don't really like anything. And I don't want to use the word "dream" but… I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan, and…to kill a certain man." Sasuke recited, his black eyes boring into Kakashi's own _

'_Sooo cool.' Sakura thought._

'_Huh, stupid goal.' She thought, shaking her head._

'_I thought as much.' He glanced at Aya, humming. 'These two are like two sides of the same coin, one side racing towards revenge and the other towards life. I wonder how her cousin is.' Kakashi looked at Sakura, pointing at her. _

"_Now… you're up." _

"_My name is Sakura Haruno. My likes are." She paused; her hands up, a blush on her face. "Well the person I like is…" She took a glance at refusing to say it once again. "Well, um my dreams for the future…" She let out a loud squeal, unable to hold in her passion any longer. "The thing I dislike…Is Naruto." She said, glaring out. _

_This drew Aya's attention to her, who had stopped listening after a second of her so called introduction. Aya glared at the girl, wondering if she should really be doing this type of work. _

'_Well, I guess a lot of girls at this age are worried about love instead of ninjutsu.' __Kakashi crossed his arms glad he was done with this part of it._

"_Alright, tomorrow we began our duties." Kakashi said._

"_What kind of duties?" Aya asked, hoping it something interesting. _

"_First we're going to do something with just us four." Kakashi replied._

"_It wouldn't happen to be survival training would it?" Aya asked. Kakashi stared at her wondering who told her. With his nod, Sakura perked up._

"_Why is our duty training?" Sakura asked, surprised. "We did enough training in the academy." _

"_I'm your opponent, but __this is no ordinary training." Kakashi replied._

"_What kind of training?" Aya asked. At that question, the man started to chuckle._

"_What's so funny sensei?" Sakura asked, suspicion in her eyes._

"_Well if I say this I'm sure you three are going to flip." Kakashi said, amused. _

"_Let me guess." Aya interjected. "Out of the thirty two graduates, only a set number will become genins, while the rest will be sent back. Am I anywhere in the ball park with that?" Aya asked, watching his wide eye._

"_W-what?" Sakura let out. She looked over at Kakashi who chuckled a bit. _

"_I see, so you were informed about this." Kakashi said. Aya nodded, crossing her arms. _

"_Then the purpose of our final exam was…" Sakura sentence trailed off, hoping someone would complete it. _

"_That? It just picks out of those who are qualified to become a genin." Kakashi informed. "Anyway tomorrow you will be graded on the training field. Bring all your ninja equipment. Oh and don't eat breakfast, you'll throw up." With that Kakashi got off the railing, pulling out three pieces of paper. "This print out has all the details. Don't be late tomorrow."_

_ Each one of them grabbed the paper, taking a glance over it. Sasuke crushed it in his hand, looking out, glaring. _'_I have to pass this test to become stronger.'_

_Sakura looked ahead, her face holding an expression of horror. _'_If I fail this test I will be separated from Sasuke-kun. This is a test of love'. _

_Aya on the other hand read the paper over, humming at the information. __She folded the paper and stood up, drawing their attention. "Bye." She muttered. This was a huge waste of time, seriously, two hours of the day gone just because his man took so long. He could have just given them the paper three hours ago and did the introductions then. What an ass. _

**End Flashback**

"I mean really? Who does that?" Aya asked, ending her rant. Naruto smiled, turning his head over to her.

"Kakashi Hatake does that. He's notorious for being late. I should have warned you before." Naruto said, taking aim with his grape.

"You knew he would be our sensei?" Aya asked with disbelief.

"Sasuke-san is the last remaining person with the Sharingan." Naruto started, he shifted his position leaning over to the left a bit. "And since you are also one of the last members of your clan with a bloodline, they would want a person who maybe can teach you both as well as protect you from danger." Naruto looked slightly disgusted, "And I hate to say it, but the man is skilled."

Maya chuckled, "That's a.." the grape flew in her mouth, effectively shutting her up. Maya coughed, the grape going straight down her throat.

"Another one for the chap!" Naruto exclaimed, his arms raising high. Tears came from Maya eyes, as she growled.

"Bastard! I could have choked!" She let out, leaping at him. Naruto shielded himself, laughing as Maya lashed out at him.

"Anyway Aya-chan, I'm not sure of his teaching style, but be careful around…Owch!" Naruto let out, after a punch went through his defense. The blonde dropped on his back turning quickly as his friend jumped on his back. He covered his head, only for his right arm to be grabbed and twisted behind his back. "Hey! Ah let go!" He shouted, his blonde spikes getting grabbed.

"Who's my bitch!" She asked, a sadist look in her eyes.

"Kiba is!" Naruto let out.

"Nice try, but wrong." Maya exclaimed, before pushing is face into the grass. "Eat it bitch! Eat my grass!"

"Maya!" Aya shouted, shocked at what her cousin just said. Maya looked at her blinking.

"I said grass, not ass." Maya said. Aya only stared, crossing her arms. Maya let out a sigh leaning down to Naruto's ear. "You got lucky this time, but Aya won't be here next time." Maya whispered.

"Maya." Aya warned. Maya sighed again, mushing his face into the dirt. She got off him returning to her original spot. Naruto pushed himself up, turning around and sitting down.

"Whoo!" He let out, wiping his face of grass and dirt. "Now, as I was saying. You should be careful around him. He steals ninjutsu." Naruto said. Aya blinked, her head tilting a bit.

"He does?" She asked.

"Yeah. His covered eye is a sharingan. He can't shut it off because it's not his, but once it's uncovered he can use it like an Uchiha." Naruto informed.

"Ok. I'll watch him then." Aya said humming a bit.

"What time does he want you to meet him?" Maya asked, eating a grape.

"Six in the morning." Aya mumbled.

"So about 12." Naruto said, nodding.

"Yeah, that'll give me enough time to make you breakfast." Maya said grinning. Aya looked slightly appalled by the suggestion.

"Um…he said we shouldn't eat." Aya replied.

"Doesn't matter. No one should go without eating breakfast." Maya said nodding.

"Um…I'll take care of it." Aya said.

"No you'll have to prepare. I'll cook you up something good." Maya said grinning widely.

"Um…On that note, I have to go." Naruto said. Both girls looked at him as he grabbed his sword and the bag of grapes, which was a third full.

"But I just got here." Aya whined.

"I know, but this is really important." Naruto replied. The image of Aya pouting came to the forefront of his mind and the blonde smiled. "Besides, Maya-chan wants to teach you something."

Maya blinked, raising an eyebrow. She looked at Aya and smiled. "Yeah, I want teach you a move for tomorrow."

"What kind of move?" The brunette asked, suspiciously.

"Taijutsu move. It'll bring down the pain on anybody." Maya said, driving her fist into her palm. Aya's face lit up and she grabbed her cousin in a hug.

"Oh! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She chanted squeezing her cousin. Maya looked at Naruto pointing at him.

'You owe me one!' She mouthed. Naruto gave her a thumbs up, a cheesy smile on his face.

"Ok, I'll leave you two to it." Naruto said turning. "Later." A combined later shot back at him as he began to walk away.

Walking out of his garden, the blonde turned left. Once he was in well behind the tree line and out of sight from his friends, Naruto dashed forward. Using both his chakra radar and his hearing, the boy successfully navigated the forest, avoiding collision with any and all objects.

Though there were a few close calls.

After ten minutes, the young genin slowed to a steady walk, his breathing heavy grasped of air. Naruto walked forward, deciding not to stop his pace. Walking forward, the blonde tried to calm his breaths, the strong, heavy scent of moisture dampening the air. Sending out a couple of chakra waves, Naruto obtained the general view of the area.

A large lake was about 9 meters ahead of him, the lake side held scarce amounts of grass and flowers. Getting closer, he was able to receive the large waterfall that drained into the lake. Large jagged rocks came from the uprooted land, intercepting the water that dropped from above. A light mist raised from below, each drop splashing the surface level water.

Though his eyes were hindered, he could tell that it was quite a sight. Walking forward, Naruto took special care to make sure he would not slip on any moist land. He concentrated on his hearing, making sure not to miss a sound around. This was a place people knew about but rarely ventured. Why? Naruto had absolutely no clue. But that what made it better. Nobody would bother him.

Stopping at the edge of the lake side, knelt down, placing his sheathed katana on the ground. He dipped his right hand into the water, the warm cool to the touch. "Nice. I'll try not to take long." He muttered to himself.

Naruto stood up straight, grabbing the hem of his shirt. He pulled it over his head, having a small amount of trouble with his hair being stuck. He folded it quickly and neatly into a nice square. Soon his pants, mesh undershirt, kunai pouch, and sandal joined it.

Being free of most of his clothing, Naruto stretched out ready for a dip. He took a few steps back before running forward. "YAHOO!" He bellowed jumping up.

SPLASH!

Naruto turned his head, holding his breath. Though it wasn't really needed for this journey, the blonde sent a few chakra waves outward. He had memorized this area five times over. So he knew where to go but he couldn't be too careful. The image of the undersea area was gorgeous enough to make the boy want to uncover his eyes. The lake bottom was easily reachable, fishes swimming all around. Algae floated, attached to stems that rose from breaks in the rocks. His mind focused on a hole in the base of the waterfall. The hole was big enough to accommodate one person of adult size at a time, easily large enough for him to fit.

The blonde swam down, grabbing on the rocks just outside the hole. Pulling on it, he moved into the hole. Bubbles escaped from his nose, his lungs burning for the vital element he needed to survive. The thought that maybe shouting yahoo before jumping in was a bad idea, crossed his mind. Leaning over, Naruto grabbed onto a rock that suck out of the cavern wall. Gathering chakra into his arms and legs, the boy pulled hard propelling him down the passage.

His heartbeat pounded in his ears, the impulse to take a breath becoming a lot harder to stifle. He grabbed onto another rock, repeating the process. Four more of these helped in traversing the expansive passage in shorter amount of time then he thought.

Reaching the end of the line, the boy tilted his body upward pushing his arms against the water. Within seconds Naruto burst through the surface of the water, inhaling a large breath. "Oh shit." He whispered, taking all the air he needed. He swam a bit, reaching out like a blind man. The moment his hand touched earth, he grabbed on, pulling himself to it. Lying against it, the boy rested a moment trying to calm his near panicked mind.

After three minutes the boy pulled himself up and onto the cave floor. "Whooo! That was lucky." He said.

"Whoooo! That was lucky" echoed back. Naruto smiled, standing up.

Naruto walked forward, the sounds of each of his steps echoing out to him. From the sound it was easy to tell there was more to this cave then just this area, but Naruto would not go about exploding as of now, maybe when he had a few more jutsu under his belt. Moving quickly he stepped over to where he knew three, four foot rock pillars were. Odd thing is, he did not know where they came from. They were here when he discovered this place.

Stopping in what he believed to be the middle of the three, he reached out; knowing the distance between him and the pillar was arm length apart. He was spot on, grabbing on to a rough palm sized rock. He turned to the other two pillars, grabbing one in his left hand and the other joining its sister in his right. A smiled appeared on his face, gathering chakra into hands. Opening his mouth, he took a deep breath.

"Hee!" He grunted, moving his energy into the brown rocks.

Sweat began to pour from the blonde's pores, not that Naruto could tell is body still covered by the water he was just in. He could feel the hard surface of the rock break away, crumbling away in his hand. A smile broke through from his strained look, the smaller pieces dropping from his hand.

It about three minutes of constant chakra generation for the entire rocky surface to peel away, leaving only three oval, blue, glowing quartz crystals in their wake. Each crystal was just about 2 ½ inches long and 1 ½ inch long at its center. "Ok…That should be enough for today. I don't want to corrupt them." He muttered. He placed each crystal back on its own pedestal, calculating how many more days he would need to do this to get the desired effect.

Walking in thought, the boy made his way over to the hole he came from. He stopped just in front of it, nodding his head seemingly coming to some source of agreement with himself. A huge grin split his face, "YAHOOOO!" He cheered, leaping into the water.

Naruto burst out to the surface, the cool air hitting his face. "Oh god. I wasn't supposed to do that." Naruto gasped. He moved over to the lake side panting heavily. Laying his head down on the land, the blonde relaxed, not making any unnecessary movements. He would take a brief moment to rest before he went to leave. After all he had a game to play.

It was close 6:10 pm when Naruto walked out onto a level plain. The blades of grass bent, the wind pushing against them. The blonde drew his hands from his pocket, walking towards the sounds of crunching.

"Yo." Came the lazy voice of Shikamaru.

"Hey Naruto." Choji's voice came next, before the ruffing of chips reached the blonde's ears.

Naruto grinned, the image of Shikamaru and Chouji appearing in his mind. A shogi board was in front of the black haired boy, all of the pieces positioned as if he was playing somebody. His husky friend was at his side, eating a bag of chips, which never seemed to leave his hand. "Hello Shikamaru, Choji." The blonde greeted. "Have you been waiting long?"

"For ten minutes." Shikamaru said, yawning. "I was tempted to go to sleep."

Naruto chuckled walking over to the other side of the board. "Sorry about that. Something important came up."

"More important than playing Shikamaru?" Chouji asked, tilting his bag to the boy.

"I would say about the same." Naruto replied, reaching his hand into the bag. "I'm preparing a little present for Maya-chan and Aya-chan. Thanks." He said drawing three chips from the bag. A second later he popped them in his mouth.

"A present?" Shikarmaru repeated, beginning to fix the pieces on the board.

"Yeah. I still need to put a whole lot of work into them, but for now they are coming along nicely." Naruto said.

"What is it?" Choji asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. Naruto leaned his head down, beginning to fix his pieces up.

"Well, I could tell you if you can keep a secret."

"I'm a ninja now; of course I can keep a secret." Choji bragged. Naruto chuckled; the boy was getting more confident.

"Alright. They are jewels. I'm making a necklace for them." He answered.

"What's the occasion?" The lazy preteen asked, preparing to make a move.

"None really. But if it was one…it would be us becoming ninja."

The two boys smiled at the blonde, knowing it was probably much more than that. They would not push for more info though because it was now game time.

Shikamaru started first, the lazy genius deciding to push a pawn ahead. His mind already on possible paths this game would and could take. In his mind he could see him beating his blonde friend in approximately 100 moves. But he knew that in reality, this would not happen. For he knew one of Naruto's greatest strengths was the disruption of set plans. The pineapple head would be cautious this time even if it seems like he would win.

Naruto move next, bringing out the strong horse rider known as the knight. Why he brought it out? Well it was a simple whim of his. Why not? So early in the game it would face no danger until make three more turns. By then Naruto would have more pieces out to protect it. Or maybe not. The boy had no clue.

Shikamaru took a moment to think about the move Naruto just made. It was an opening he was used to seeing, but the sightless ninja across from him would always use it a different way than he expected. For example, last game he thought it was to pressure his pawn, only for Naruto to move to piece around the board just for entertainment purposes. But because of him thinking such, he lost his silver generals, both of them. Naruto traded his lances just to drop them on his side. It didn't make sense, but the blonde won at the end. If Shikamaru had to guess, this game would probably go the same way.

It took an hour, but Shikmaru really had to say he was in a bad spot. His earlier prediction of how the game would go was completely wrong. Naruto's knight was just out there, just to be out there, he hadn't move the thing since the first move. He hesitated to take it for ten minutes, thinking it was some sort of trap. And he was completely off; there was no trap, there was nothing. Sure Shikamaru had his knight now, but at the cost of his gold general and board position, he wish he hadn't be preoccupied with it. He still wondered how he didn't notice Naruto sneaking his bishop into position to snag his general.

The boy sighed, deciding to take a moment to think. He was missing something here and Naruto's mischievous grin was not going to give him an answer. Closing his eyes, and putting his hand together, creating a circle with his fingertips, the boy began to think, hoping to come out with a plan suitable for this situation.

Naruto hummed, his mind or other things. He wondered how he would grope his teacher the next day, his date with Neko-chan, the softness of his silver haired friend's boobs. He wondered if he would get a chance to see Kurenai-chan again or if she was still taking to that Asuma guy, so many things to worry about but not enough time to worry about them.

His mind came back to the present the image of his play mate going into mediation. He chuckled lowly, wondering why was thinking so important. Naruto had a few philosophies, and one of them was just do it. And that is what he did, almost 100 % of the time. Now if only Shikamaru followed that, than his life would be so much brighter.

Naruto turned his head, two sets of footsteps drawing his attention. One was light, very unnoticeable, while the other set was dragging slightly. "Hello Mawa-chan, Awa-chan!" Choji greeted, his mouth still full. He was on his tenth bag of chips.

"Please Choji, don't speak with your mouth full." Maya said.

"Hello, Choji-kun." Aya greeted politely. Naruto turned his head to Choji, putting his index finger to his mouth. The husky boy noticed this and nodded with a smile.

"What was that?" Maya asked, catching Choji's reaction.

"Nothing, Maya-chan." Naruto replied turning his head to her. "How was training?"

"It was hard." Aya answered, with a huff.

"I see. But there isn't supposed to be an easy training session." Naruto replied.

"But this was really hard!" Aya exclaimed. "She made me do all these exorcises that had nothing to do with the technique."

"So? If you would have gotten it right then you wouldn't have had to do it." Maya said crossing her arms.

"Maya-chan, have you been bulling Aya-chan?" He asked.

"No" "Yes"

The two girls looked at each other, glaring a bit. "If I'm bulling you, maybe I should stop teaching you things."

"If you would take it easy, then maybe I wouldn't say you were bulling me." Aya shot back. Naruto and Choji laughed, drawing the girl's attention to them.

"Relax. Maya-chan your training habits are a little too strict." Naruto said.

"Hah! See." Aya exclaimed pointing at her.

"No, you're just too soft." Maya retorted, staring her cousin down.

"Am not." Aya shot back.

"I think you made it worst." Choji whispered. Naruto nodded in agreement, but he had ways to fix this. Or so he thought.

"Hey, what do you guys want to eat tonight?" Naruto asked. This drew their attention again, this time Maya's right hand found her stomach. She was hungry.

"How about meat? BBQ would be good." Maya said, nodding.

"Hmmm, baroque." Choji repeated, his mouth starting to water.

"Ah, how about dumplings?" Aya suggested.

"Hmmm, dumplings." Choji repeated, drool dripping from his lips. Naruto couldn't help it and turned his head to the boy.

"Would you like to join us?" He asked. The brown haired boy wiped his mouth quickly before shaking his head.

"I would but my mother is making a feast as congratulations for becoming a genin." Choji said. Naruto put a smile on his face, slightly disappointed.

"Alright. There's always next time." Naruto said. "I wonder if it's the same with this one." Naruto suddenly hummed turning his head back to Choji. "Hey I should have asked but how is Ino-chan taking a liking to your team?"

"Oh, she's um….more upset that Sakura-san is a part of Sasuke's team then being on teams with us." Choji said.

"Hahaha. I don't know why that's surprising to me." Naruto laughed out.

"I don't know either. She's has a big attraction towards the boy." Maya said, sitting on the other side of the board. Aya sat on Naruto's side, leaning against him a bit. "By the way…how many games did you play?" She asked.

"This is still the first one." Naruto replied, chuckling a bit. Maya looked slightly annoyed by it. She expected one of them to have won at least one already.

"Who's winning?" Aya asked curiously. She wasn't really the shoji play, she barely liked strategy games. Now puzzles, those were her type of games.

As if being brought out of his thought process by her question, Shikamaru opened his eyes, reaching out to the board. He placed his hand on top of his promoted rook, sliding it in position to take Naruto's king. "Hello, Maya-san, Aya-san." Shikamaru said, looking up from the board.

"Hello." Aya greeted. Maya simply nodded at him, looking at the move that he made. She understood what was going on pretty well, her mother used to play quite a bit. It seems Naruto was close to losing. Looking at all of Naruto's pieces, it took a moment to realize that some of his stronger pieces were position to counter such a move. But there was also one other move.

"Wow….Pretty good move." Naruto said. Humming a bit, Naruto pushed the king out of range. Shikamura blinked, wondering why Naruto didn't capture it like he planned for. He moved again, placing the blonde's king back in position to be taken. Again Naruto pushed the king away, bringing the eyes of the onlookers to him.

What the hell was he doing?

Shikamaru looked at the board, looking at each piece, second guessing whether or not he should continue his chase. He placed his hand on the piece, hesitantly pushing it again, in range of the king. Naruto frowned humming a bit. "I guess you aren't going to give this up." He said. The blond did not wait for an answer though. Pushing a pawn that once belonged to Shikamaru, Naruto blocked the attack. Shikamaru hummed, swamping his tactic.

Shikamaru moved his hand to another one of his pieces, before he stopped now seeing what Naruto was doing. A three pronged attack, which was unavoidable. The reason he wasn't taking his rook was simple to position the rook where it could be taken to insure his defeat. Shikamaru was happy he saw it in time. Moving his rook away, the black haired genin smirked at his friend. Wondering what his next move will be.

"Um….why don't you just move this." Maya said pushing Naruto bishop across the board, in the direct line of the king.

"Maya-chan!" Naruto whined, as Shikamaru looked at the move. He was just about to move the king only to find it was impossible. His rook being close to Naruto king was keeping Naruto bishop from making the final move. Wow….he was not expecting that.

"Your win." Shikamaru said. Naruto hummed, crossing his arms.

"It's a draw. Maya-chan cheated." Naruto muttered.

"What? No I didn't." Maya exclaimed.

"She touched the piece thus showing you the move. It's a draw."

Shikamaru stared at him for a moment, watching as Maya pinched his cheeks. He chuckled lowly, understanding why he pushed for the draw instead of the win. "Ok, it's a draw. How about Saturday, we have a rematch?"

"Alsome, same time." Naruto said, with a little hindrance.

"Alright." Shikamaru said. Pulling out a bag, the boy began moving the pieces into it. He glanced up a bit watching Naruto fend off Maya's pinching attacks. Aya got in it a bit protecting his cheeks from her evil 'cousin.'

"Hey Shikamaru, want to join us for dinner?" Naruto asked his head in the protective custody of Aya's arms.

"Sorry. It's not possible today." Shikmaru said, closing his cotton bag.

"Aw, ok. Then another time." Naruto said frowning.

"Yeah. You know, you could always come to my house. My mom sees you as her dream kid." Shikamaru said, smirking. Naruto's mouth dropped in horror.

"Um…I'll take a ring check on that." Naruto said sweating a bit. His mom was scary, so very scary.

"Ok. I'll make sure to mention it to her." Shikamaru said, picking up the board. He stood up a moment later Choji following his lead.

"Later guys." Naruto exclaimed, waving his hands about. Maya and Aya joined in, Maya with a simple nod and Aya with a small wave.

"Later." Shikamaru replied.

"Bye, good luck on your missions!" Choji shouted.

"Good luck on yours too." Maya shouted out smiling. The girls watched them go, walking to the road before heading towards their homes. Once they were far enough away, she looked at Naruto who was humming a little.

"So, what's the plan for food?" Naruto asked.

"I still say bbq." Maya answered.

"How about ramen?" Aya suggested. Maya eyebrows furrowed, the idea not to her liking. Naruto on the other hand liked it very much. He stood, Aya moving off him.

"That sounds….good." Naruto said, licking his lips.

"I don't think so." Maya disagreed. "We had ramen yesterday." Maya stood; ready to stop him from doing the inevitable.

"RAMEN!" Naruto exclaimed like it was the best thing in the world.

"Wait!" She shouted, lunging at him. Her arms wrapped around air, the blonde already on the road. Maya stumbled a bit but managed to recover without falling. She looked up around to spot her friend, but he was gone, like a cheetah chasing its prey. Aya giggled, Maya letting out a sigh.

"And thus his addiction continues." Aya cheered. Maya looked at her shaking her head.

"Let's go….before he eats all his money away."

By the time they located the shop, their friend no doubly went to, the sky over the village of Konoha was completely dark, the street lights, moon, and stars illuminating the night. People roamed the streets, some going to bars to get wasted and have the time of their lives, while other went to hot springs, and the few others, going over to that special person's place to get a little more comfortable. Then there was another portion of the people who were just going out to eat before returning to their homes, not wanting to wait their time cooking.

Walking under the flaps of the shop named Ichiraku, they spotted Naruto, sitting on the middle chair, slurping some noodles, the broth flying off the soft pasta. Two other people were sitting at the stand though they were spaced away from Naruto. A tower of five bowls was off to his right, the sixth now in his hands. "Six already?" Maya asked, surprised and slightly disgusted. He left them like six minutes ago. He ate like a pig.

Naruto turned his head to her, grinning, his cheeks puffed, holding all the noodles he was eating. Swallowing Naruto gave her a thumb up. "It's just so good." Naruto said. Turning his head back forward, he raised his hand. "Ayame-chan, old man! One more." He cheered.

"Aye! Naruto kun." The cook behind the stand said, a jovial smile on his face. The man stood just about 5 feet 8 inches tall. His hair is lightly greyed and short. His face held like wrinkles, showing his age. His eyes were closed, hiding his brown eyes. A crisp, clean white robe covered what was visible of his torso; it was devoid of any and all oil or broth. It showed how precise he was when handing food. A white cap was on his head, a red stamp meaning chief on the front of it.

"I'm sorry but Naruto has had enough for tonight." Maya interjected, politely.

"But Maya-chan, I'm so hungry." Naruto whined. "Rawwwr!" Naruto grumbled, pretending it was his stomach. "See, my tummy wants more."

Maya stared at him, Aya taking a see next to him. "No. You've had enough."

"Ah! Maya-chan, aren't you being a little to stern?" Another voice interjected. Her eyes went to a woman, behind the counter. She was taller than Maya, standing at just about 5 foot 2. Long brown hair came down, just passed her shoulder. Bangs of her well-kept hair framed her face, her right eye being slightly covered. Her gentle eyes share the same color as her hair. Her fair skin and slender frame is covered mostly by a white robe, the sleeves of said robe was folded to her elbows. A white bandana was on her head, tying her hair in a sort of ponytail.

"Ayame don't try and help him. He's barely eats healthy as it is." Maya said.

"Ramen is healthy!" Naruto exclaimed, slamming his fist on the table. "It hold all that is necessary for a growing boy to um….you know grow."

"Oh? Like what? What vitamins and minerals are in ramen that makes it healthy?" Maya asked, a firm expression on her face. She was serious about this and would not let up. Everyone in the shop looked at Naruto, waiting to hear his response, even the ones who were trying to ignore the boy.

Naruto took a moment thinking it over. Obviously he didn't know. It wasn't important. What mattered was that it was delicious. And he would voice as much. "It doesn't matter, it's good." Naruto exclaimed. Everyone laughed, even the two at the side. Naruto didn't know why they were laughing, it was the truth.

"Aw, Naruto-kun. You're so cute." Ayame said playfully. Naruto turned to her, smiling as she reached over, the counter, rubbing his head.

"Ah, thank you. You are quite the beauty yourself." Naruto replied, giving what he would call a sexy smirk. Ayame blushed, it wasn't often she was called beautiful, but then again she didn't go out much.

Three "Ahem." Came out, two from the girls and one from the old man. Ayame drew her hand back, smiling nervously at the older man. Said man looked at the two newcomers. "What would you two like?" He asked.

"A medium miso ramen, please." Aya ordered politely.

"Same." Maya said, taking a seat.

"Me to, except make it a…"

"No, you had enough." Maya interrupted. Naruto frowned at her, crossing his arms.

"But I want another one." He muttered, like a child not getting his way.

"You haven't even finished the one in front of you." Maya said.

"Come on Maya. Let him have one more." Aya said. Her plead seemed to fall on deaths door, Maya lifting up her chin, her arms crossed.

"Fine…meanie." Naruto let out. His attention came back to his bowl, which only had the broth left. Sighing the boy grabbed the bowl, downing the contents in seconds. With a burp, Naruto placed the bowl down. "So good."

Maya shook her head, where was his manners.

Aya giggled lowly, covering her mouth, Naruto was so stupid at times. "You guys make the best ramen." The blonde praised.

"Hehehe, we are only so good because of our number one customer." The old man said.

"Well, I don't toot my own horn." Naruto said turning, his ego growing larger.

"Yes you do, every night." Maya said, looking away. Naruto looked at her, his face red with embarrassment.

"Wow! I would never have guessed." Ayame teased, giggling lowly. Aya had her hand to her mouth, surprised at her Maya's retort. The ramen chief let out a little chuckle, to be young.

"Don't believe that, Ayame-chan. She lying!" Naruto shouted, pointing at the girl.

"Then why were you up late last night?" Maya asked looking to the left.

Naruto paused, slightly put off. "How did you know I was up?" Maya smiled at him and the blonde realized he had just been tricked. "Aww, damn it." Naruto muttered. Everyone laughed again, finding great pleasure in Naruto's embarrassment.

Their dinner time passed by slowly, the five of them enjoying themselves with simple conversation. They found delight in the playful bickering between the three kids. The meal of the two girls was slowly enjoyed between the three of them, Aya deciding to share with the blonde when her cousin wasn't looking. As good as the two was at hiding it; Maya found out and scolded them both, though Naruto got the worst of it.

Even after they finished their meals, the three stayed, causing an array of laughter from the two cooks. Before they realized it an hour passed and Maya being the responsible one of the group ushered them out. Taking out his wallet, Naruto paid for the meal, before they bid the father and daughter duo good night.

Walking away, Naruto could hear a few steps behind them, going into the shop. He guessed there were people who couldn't stomach his presence. Oh well. What should he care, the important people in his life was right next to him. Not to say Maya and Aya was the only ones, but they were the most important.

The three of them walked, enjoying each other's company. The night was suited them pretty well, the cool air calming them. "So, how hard do you think your test is going to be?" Naruto asked turning his head to Aya.

"Well, I don't think it will be that hard. I'm not even sure what it would be." Aya replied.

"Well, I think it will be the…"

"Well it best to be prepared for anything." Naruto said, interrupting his silver haired friend. Maya looked at him, and the boy grinned at her shaking his head slightly. She blinked before understanding.

"Yeah, be prepared for any and everything. Especially Sasuke and his "Don't get in my way attitude." Maya said. Naruto nodded turning his head back to the brunette.

"All long as you watch out for yourself and teammates you should be fine." Naruto said. Aya nodded taking in their advice.

"What did you two have to do for your test?" Aya asked. Naruto grinned while Maya laughed. "What?" Aya didn't see the joke.

"Well we had to fight her….for a while." Naruto said scratching his cheek.

"Yeah, we got beat. Naruto did get a hit on her though." Maya said.

"Waah! You were able to hit a jounin?" Aya asked, surprised.

"Yeah…." Naruto let out, it wasn't the first time. "All you need to remember when fighting is, the only thing he has on you is experience and jutsu, but I doubt he would use any dangerous ones, so go for the kill." Aya blinked, shocked.

"I don't want to kill him." Aya exclaimed.

"You don't have to want to. But when you go with the intent to kill, one doesn't hold back. And since he has an overwhelming advantage already, you might as well go into battle at your full capabilities." Maya explained. Once again Aya nodded, thinking about their advice. "By the way….Where are you heading?" She looked at Naruto, as she posed her question.

"Huh? I'm walking you two home." Naruto said, tilting his head. Wasn't that obvious? Maya shook her head stopping in her tracks. The two followed suit, Aya's eyes now on Naruto.

"We are close to your home; there is no reason for you to follow us nearly half way across the village just to come back." Maya said.

"But what if something…"

"Nothing is going to happen." Maya interrupted. "Besides we have to wake up early and you aren't an early raiser."

Naruto was about to say something, but then again, she was right. Morning was the worst part of the day. Scratching his cheek, the blonde sighed. "Alright." He agreed. Taking a step closer to them, Naruto grabbed their hands.

"Maya-chan, Aya-chan" He started his voice slightly lower in tone. "Hanging out with you has made this dark desolate day into one filled with brightness and love." Naruto kissed the back of their hands; causing the brunette to blush and the silver haired girl roll her eyes. "It breaks make heart to have be apart from you two." His tone holding enough misery to bring tears to the most harden person, or so he thought. "But know this, we will meet again." Naruto said smiling. Maya quickly retracted her hand turning from him.

"Yeah I know, we are on the same team." Maya said shaking her head. "And stop trying to act romantic; you're not good at it." Maya said. Though Maya wouldn't lie to herself, it made her happy to hear.

'Hmmm, I thought it was good. Oh well, I have to try harder now.' Naruto thought releasing Aya's hand.

"Alright, make it home quickly and safely Naruto." Maya said.

"Don't worry I will." Naruto said.

"See you later, Naruto." Aya said, waving her hand.

"Later Aya-chan." Naruto returned, he turned his head to Maya smirking a bit. "See you later my little Maya-chwan."

Maya's mouth twitched, so he wanted to play games huh? Turning back to Naruto, she smiled. "See you tomorrow, at 7:30, Whiskers." Maya said, drawing out his nickname.

Naruto's smirk left his face, his mouth quirked in irritation. Before he could respond, the two cousins began walking away. Naruto sent out a few more pulses of chakra, the image of their retreating forms coming to his mind. He waited there for a moment, the two of them no longer in range. A sigh left his mouth. It was now time to return to the apartment.

Naruto walked down the street, finding a quite a good number of people walking to their homes. They ignored him, though Naruto wasn't really trying to get their attention. He tended to do the same to them. Why should he pay attention to those who to overlook him?

Climbing the steps leading to his door, the blonde noticed a foul stench. Like rotten fruit. Sending out a pulse of chakra, the boy received exactly what the cause of the smell was. He groaned, the image of a mass of rotten fruit and vegetables at his door appearing in his mind. "Son of a bitch." Naruto growled. "When I find out who did this, I'm going to beat them half to death."

The blonde walked forward, preforming three seals. He touched the door, an orange glow rippling from his point of contact. A large five point seal, reminiscing of a star with three circles going through it, appeared on the door and windows. If anyone was around, they could make out the small runic like words on the outside of the circles.

The orange glow came back, rippling to the tips of Naruto's hand. A low hiss reached the boy's ear, though he felt nothing. After a moment, both the seal and the field of glowing energy disappeared, leaving his hand on the wooden door. Naruto retracted his hand, sending it into his pocket for a short journey. He pulled out his a ring with two keys attached. Grabbing the one he knew was to his door, he put it into the lock, grabbing the knob with his left hand. Naruto turned the key, hearing a click noise as he did so.

He entered his apartment, stepping over the mess outside. Closing and locking the door behind him, Naruto sent a pulse of chakra out. The room is about 12 x 12 feet containing a three person couch in the middle of the room. A television was up against the wall in front of it. A dresser, just about half of Naruto's height, was up against the wall behind the sofa. A couple of picture frames decorated the top of it. The first held a picture of Maya, Aya and Naruto playing in a river, they looked to be 12 in the picture. The next picture held the image Naruto and Maya doing one of their many challenges, in this one, they looked about 10 years old. The last held the blonde and the Natsume cousins posing for the camera, though there was an older silver haired boy in the image, standing in-between Maya and Aya, his arms wrapped around them.

A large book case stood in the corner of the room, next to the door Naruto knew lead to the dinning room/kitchen. A foot away from the TV was a hall that leads to the bathroom and his bedroom. Naruto rubbed his head, sliding out his sandals. At least he could rest now.

He walked forward, taking off his shirt and leather strap, which held his katana. Naruto dropped them on his couch as he walked passed. He felt no need to check anything, everything as in it's rightfully place, only three people could get in, and two of them wouldn't screw with his stuff.

He walked straight to his room, not really having anything else to do. Walking into his room, Naruto moved over to his bed, which was right up against the wall, near a window which held a beautiful scene of the village in the night. He sat down, wondering what he should do, until he actually felt like he needed sleep. He turned his head, to the dresser in arms reach. He sent a pulse of chakra out, finding exactly where to aim. He grabbed his cloak and turned the alarm on. It would be best not to be late.

Naruto placed the cloak back down, turning his head to the left. A dreadful feeling was slowly making its way into Naruto's heart. The source of the alarming emotion was locked behind a glass showcase. It was quite large, 5 feet high and three feet wide. The clear glass is sealed shut by a small lock, or so it seemed. The case was made out of wood, though it is painted over in a blue color.

Two katana rested in the case, red cloth keeping it in a warm embrace. The first one was the longer of the two, being of a length of 70 inches overall. The long hilt, being long enough for more than two hands to be on it at once, is wrapped neatly by a purple leather cord. There was no cross guard separating the blade and the hilt like normal swords. A brown sheath protected the blade from the peeking eyes of any outsider. There was a dirtied, white, tattered cloth spiraling down the sheath, giving the sword an old look.

Next to it is a smaller katana, being of the length 46 ½ inches. A red sheath engraved by a long, red, wingless dragon flying up the case, covered the blade. The sword has a circular guard that looked much like dragon circling around the hilt. The hilt was wrapped neatly with red nylon cloth.

The blonde turned his head away from the case, knowing the cause of such a feeling. For some reason it wasn't really that bad of a sensation, it was actually quite comforting to tell the truth. But then again, Naruto was weird.

Lying on his bed, Naruto contemplated whether or not to take his forehead protector off. It wouldn't be that much of a hassle to leave it on, nor would he have to worry about anything. Letting out another sigh, the boy wondered when exactly he would fall asleep.

Naruto jumped up, the blaring of a ringing being the sole cause. His hand moved like lightening, grabbing the source of the racket. He tossed it hard, aiming for the wall across from him.

Smash!

"Shit." Naruto's warily voice came out. That was his alarm clock wasn't it? "Maya's going to have my ass for that." He muttered, rubbing his forehead. He frowned, not knowing when exactly he fell asleep. In all actuality he was still tired. It didn't even feel like he slept at all. But if his alarm went off then it was at least 6:30. Getting out of his bed, Naruto released a loud yawn, not even caring to cover his mouth.

It was his house, he was alone. Fuck manners.

Naruto left his room, heading over to the bathroom. It was time to start his morning routine.

It didn't take long for him, to leave the apartment, wearing a plain red shirt, with a red and white spiral design on the back, and black pants. His kunai pouch was on the back his waist and his shuriken holster on his right leg. He had his trusted katana strapped to his back like always, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice. Naruto redid the seal on his house, keeping everyone who didn't know how to release it out. He even managed to clean up the mess from last night. Tossing up one apple as he ate another, the boy walked down to the street, knowing it was around 6:30 now.

Once he reached the bottom of the stairs, Naruto too k a brief moment, to wonder if he should take his time, or rush to meet Maya-chan. She would be surprised that he was up this early then her. His decision made, the blonde pocketed his extra apple. He bit on the fruit he had already begin eating and made a ram seal. After a second, a cloud of smoke engulfed him, signaling his departure.

Naruto arrived minutes later at his destination, apple long gone. The area was an almost deserted part of the village. It had a slightly eerie feeling to it that only the blonde seemed to notice. He turned his head, facing one of the largest houses in this part of the village. From where he was standing even if he could see it, he would be unable to see the brown roof tiles. It looked to be a traditional type of mansion, being slightly elevated from the ground. A set of stairs was in front of him, leading to the front door. There was a wooden walkway, seemingly going around the house.

From what he knew, there were two floors. On the first floor there was a dojo inside, large kitchen, living room, and an array of other rooms that held books, notes and weaponry. On the second floor were just a lot of bed rooms, each with their own taste and design. On the left of the house was an outdoor hot spring that Naruto is happy to have used quite a few times. The backyard was expansive, having a garden, a small fish pond with specialized fish inside and a small bridge over it.

Oh how Naruto would just love to live this house. Too bad he wasn't part of their family….well yet. A huge grin came on his face as he walked up the small flight of stairs. He drew out his keys once again, putting the key into the door. Yes he had a key to this house. Why? Maya thought it would best if he did. He opened the door, being as quiet as possible. Naruto took a step inside, sending a pulse out. The first thing he received was a set of stairs leading up to the second floor; two doors each side of the room, close to the base of the stairs. The door on the left of the stairs lead to the living room, kitchen, and hot springs; on the right towards the dojo, weapons storage, and historical texts.

Knowing that Maya would probably still be in her room, Naruto walked up the stairs, leaving his foot ware at the door. Upon reaching the top, the blonde turned to the left hoping to sneak up on his friend. It was the best thing to do in the morning. He began to sneak to her room, his steps as silent as a ninja.

The blonde made it to her door, crouching on the floor. He listened for a moment, only hearing the soft breathing from inside. He smiled; he would get her this time. He grabbed the doorknob and gave it a light twist. With a soft push, the door creaked opened. Naruto gritted his teeth, hoping the sleeping girl inside would not be stirred by the slight noise. He heard no movement from her, so she wasn't awake. Good, he would be able to complete his mission.

Sliding the door open, Naruto moved inside. He closed the door behind him, so it wouldn't close on its own. Just a slight precaution, it had ruined his attack once before. He moved close to the kings size bed, that was really too big for her. Once he was in perfect attack position, Naruto counted down in his head. '3, 2…1' he leapt up, making sure not to shout anything out like he was known to do.

Too bad it didn't really matter.

The moment he reached to peak of leap, the sound of rustling sheet reached his ears. He barely had time to register what was going on, before he was flipped over the bed, landing on his back. As soon as he landed, an extra weight came down on his chest. He coughed the mass coming down too suddenly for him to prepare. "Naruto, Naruto, Naruto." Maya chanted her voice smug. "You just aren't good enough to get me."

Finally deciding to send out a pulse of chakra, Naruto found his silver haired friend sitting on his chest. What made this so much more interesting was she was in her underclothes, a matching pair of red. "Oh? You just got lucky." Naruto responded, not at all upset about their current position.

"Luck is one time, not ten." Maya corrected.

"The world is just against me in the morning." Naruto said. "Now, as wonderful as it is to be in such a position with you, I'll have to ask you to get up." Maya only smiled, rising off him. She stepped over him, moving to sit on her bed. Crossing her legs, the girl stared at Naruto.

The blond sat up, turning his body to her. "So, how was cooking for Aya-chan?" Naruto asked.

Maya let out a sigh. "Stop doing that. It's not necessary for you to add honorifics to our names."

"But, it just sounds sooooo awesome." Naruto whined. "Maya-chwannn!"

She rolled her eyes, so it was useless. "Anyway, Aya left before I had a chance to make breakfast." Maya seemed unusually upset about it.

"So she didn't eat." Naruto mumbled. "Don't worry Maya-chan, there will be other chances."

"Yeah, yeah. We have less than an hour left before we have to report to Anko." Maya said. "What should we do?"

"You should get ready." Naruto said standing. A second later a lecherous grin appeared on his face. "Unless you want to go like that. I'm completely fine with it."

"Shut up." Maya said, dismissing him. "And what will you do?"

"Head over to wish Aya-chan good luck. And give her an apple." Naruto said shrugging. "It's something."

"Yeah it is." Maya stood, moving over to her closet. "I'll meet you over there then."

"Alright, sweet heart." Naruto said.

"Do you know where Aya is?" Maya asked, grabbing a pair of black pants and a white shirt.

"Um, no. But It shouldn't take me long to locate her." Naruto replied. Maya moved over to the bed, placing her clothing down, before moving to dresser.

"She's at training area 7." Maya said.

"Thanks." Naruto said walking over to the door. "Don't take too long getting ready. I would hate to see hebi-chan angry."

"Uh-huh yea." Maya said, dismissing it. Why should she care if their teacher was angry?

Naruto opened the door, shaking his head. He could see this becoming a problem. Naruto went down to the front door, grabbing his sandals along the way. Naruto took the time to slip them on before he left the house, making sure he locked the door behind him. "Hm, training area 7…" Naruto muttered, walking down the stairs. He wasn't really sure exactly where it was, but it shouldn't take him long to find it.

It took Naruto nearly 25 minutes to find his friend, who was sitting at the base of a tree, her bag on her left side. Sakura was standing next to Sasuke, her face showing her grogginess. Sasuke seemed to be the only one who was fully awake, most likely he went to bed a little earlier than normal. Sakura let out a yawn, her long pink hair swaying just a bit. It seems that it was infectious; Aya yawn a few seconds later.

Naruto stood out of sight, smirking as he planned to wake them up. He cracked his knuckles, drawing two smoke bombs and some wire from his pouch. "Let the show start." Naruto whispered.

Aya stared ahead, wondering if she should get some more sleep. If they were right, then Kakashi-sensei wouldn't be here for a while. She was starting to regret not making anything to eat this morning. She looked at Sakura, thinking of something to say. Before she had a chance though, two small bombs landed in between them, exploding into a large plume of smoke. All three of them inhaled the smoke, going into a fit of coughing.

"Who…*koff, koff* did that?" Sakura let out.

"I don't know." Aya replied, quickly moving out of the smoke.

"I, Kyaaaa!"

Both Aya and Sasuke turned, being the ones out of the smoke. "Sakura-san?" Aya called, as the smoke cleared. Both of them noticed, the complete absence of their teammate. Aya quickly drew a kunai, wary of the situation. Sasuke was glancing around, his body relaxed in case he had to move quickly. He began to lower his bag to the ground, Aya looking around for their teammate.

She turned, hearing a slight rustle. She found herself regretting such action, the sounds of a brief struggle going on behind her. She turned, quickly, only finding the last Uchiha to be missing. She narrowed her eyes, tightening the grip on her kunai. Whoever took her teammates did so very skillfully. Her first thought was her sensei, but it somehow didn't seem like him. She took a deep breath, extending her senses.

It took a moment, but the sounds of movement and muffled voices reached her ears. The source was nearby. She turned around, her back facing where Sasuke just was. As she walked towards where she believed the source was, the sounds became louder. Aya pressed herself up against the tree, the shifting becoming louder. She peeked back, trying to see what was moving. Her eyes widen, the girl moving out of her spot.

Well…she found Sakura.

The pink haired girl was tied to the tree, her feet about two feet from the ground. Her arms were above her head, a gag in her mouth, keeping her from shouting obscenities. Her eyes were narrowed, tears of anger in her eyes at her embarrassing position. Wire was patterned in diamonds, binding her in a way that made her breast pop out. She noticed that the wire even went in between her legs, which she found to be bond in a way so she could squeeze her legs shut.

Aya stared, her eyes lids lowering a bit. She knew who did this. How? Because said person did something like this last year, just with a teacher, a young looking female teacher, with nice perky breast. Her kunai lowered, if she had to guess, her blond haired, perverted friend was going to pop behind her, whispering something like. "You're open Aya-chan"

Yeah, that's exactly what he would…Fuck.

Aya raised her arm left arm, turning as his hands landed on her chest. He got a chance to squeeze before she attacked, bringing her elbow down on his head. The brunette didn't know how he dodged it so perfectly, but he did. He leapt back from her, laughing like a mad man.

"Naruto!" She exclaimed, a red hue painting her cheeks. Naruto smiled at her raising his hands behind his head.

"Good morning Aya-chan." Naruto greeted casually as if he didn't just grope his friend.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, thinking up how she would get him back.

"I came to wish you good luck." Naruto said. "Oh and give you this." He went in his pocket, drawing out his extra apple. He tossed it to her and she caught it with both of her hands. She looked at it realizing it was an apple. "You shouldn't have dodged eating." Naruto said walking closer to her.

"But Kakashi-sensei said…."

"Doesn't matter. He hasn't begun teaching you yet." Naruto interrupted, walking passed her. Aya watched him as he moved up to Sakura. "If he has a problem, send him my way." Naruto stopped right in front of the girl, her struggling revamped.

"Why….did you tie her up?" Aya asked, figuring it would be best to get on the here and now.

"Truth?" Naruto asked, placing his hands on the immobile girl's legs. Aya nodded feeling a ping of pain in her chest, hoping against what she was thinking. "She let me." Naruto turned his head to her. "She put up no defensive." A grin crept up on his face, his head turning back to the girl who was now trying to shout.

"Where's Sasuke?" Aya asked, watching as his hands rose.

"I put him in the bushes, on the right side of where you were sitting." Naruto answered.

"Stop!" Aya shouted, watching his hands rise to the height of Sakura's breast. Naruto turned his head back to her, pouting.

"But Aya-chan, how can I not take advantage of this?" He exclaimed.

"Just, just don't." Aya said. "I-if you don't, I won't hit you for groping me." She looked around a bit, finding a way to sweeten the deal. "…or tell Maya."

Naruto's hands dropped instantly, getting a free get out of jail card. "Ok." Naruto said turning. Aya let out a sigh, she didn't like watching him grope girls. "Anyway, I have to go. I can't be late. Make sure you are careful with getting her down." Naruto smiled at Aya, giving her a thumps up. "Later."

"Later." Aya said, waving her hand a little. Naruto disappeared leaving a puff of smoke in his wake. Aya watched as the smoke disappeared, leaving the sight of Sakura trying to force her way out of her binding. Thinking about it now, she should have had Naruto do it. At least that way she wouldn't have to hear about this for the next few hours.

Maya hummed, wondering how long she would have to wait. Looking at a watch that she conveniently found, she noticed it was three minutes till the meeting time. She dropped her hand, looking over to the half full bag of meat buns. She had bought them on her way here, figuring Naruto had eaten a single piece of fruit only.

Suddenly a presence skated on the edge of her senses. She perked up a bit, glancing around in a casual manner. Her guard was up even though it didn't seem like it. Her eyes feel on her katana which was leaned up against a tree. Should she grab it?

"MAYA-CHAAAAAN!"

A loud shout brought her eyes back. She twisted her body, deciding to meet the incoming blonde missile head on. Maya raised her arms up, capturing the projectile, though it didn't stop her from falling back. She managed to position their bodies so she would land on top, a feat that she found pretty easy to do in this sudden situation.

The blonde caught on to her though, continuing the motion she started. The moment he hit the ground, they began rolling, their hair mixing into a silver and blonde swirl. A moment passed, the two rolling into a tree which effectively stopped their movement.

Maya looked down at the culprit, straddling his waist with her arms at either side of his head. A huge grin was plastered on her beautiful face, her eyes looking down at her friend. "Come on Naruto, you couldn't beat me when we were 8, couldn't beat me when we were 9, couldn't beat me when you 10, not to mention you couldn't beat me this morning." Maya listed, her smug tone bringing a scowl to Naruto's face. "So, what makes you think you can beat me now?"

Naruto groaned, not liking the taste of defeat yet again. "Okay, okay. Just let me up." The blue eyed girl laughed, rising off him. She stepped over his body, heading over to her bag of meat buns. Before she got five steps away, Naruto leaped at her again. He didn't notice the smirk on her face as she glanced back.

This was all too easy for her.

She turned grabbing the blonde once more. She let herself get tackled; going towards the ground she began to spin, making sure Naruto was on the bottom. But of course he didn't leave it at that. It wouldn't be fun if he did.

They rolled around on the ground, Maya's laughter ranging out as they did. They moved on quite a bit, turning like a cart wheel. Minutes passed, neither one giving way to the other.

They were so preoccupied with each other, neither felt the entrance of their purple haired teacher, though she didn't really try to announce herself either. She found it entertaining to watch the two played, she did some looking and found they have been friends since just around 7. She wondered how it would play out being teammates.

After another moment they finally stopped. Maya was once again on top, her hands pinning down the boys shoulders. A predatorily smirk appeared on her face, her sharp eyes seemingly piercing through that plate that covered his eyes. "Pinned you again" Maya said. Her smug statement only made the boy growl, this was certainly not his morning.

"I-I let you win." He exclaimed

Maya smirk only widen, "So you are telling me you like being on the ground?"

Naruto grinned, finding a way out of his shameful lost. "Actually, I just like you bei…"

"So are you two going to make out? Or am I wasting my time?"

Both genin turned to the voice; Naruto sending out a pulse of chakra. The image of his Anko came back to him, her eyes ogling the both of them, as if expecting something. Maya on the other hand stared at their teacher. She glanced at her wrist, finding it passed the intended time.

"You're late." Maya said, glaring at the woman. Did she not know training is a serious matter?

"Actually, I got here right on time." Anko said casually. She walked over to the two, who had yet to change their position. "But you two look like you were having fun. Who am I to ruin that?"

Maya looked at Naruto. Oh yeah, she had found the bad influence.

"So um….What kind of training are we doing today?" Naruto asked, deciding to just get back on track. Maya looked at Anko again, choosing now to let the boy under her go.

"We're going to start off sparing." Anko said, a huge, cheery smile on her face.

"Ok….Um any reason why?" Naruto asked, standing. Maya joined him a second later, patting down her clothes of any dust.

"Uh-uh, no questioning, just get ready." Anko said, cracking her knuckles. Maya and Naruto faced each other, both thinking, 'this is going to be fucked up.'

* * *

Jutsu used

Kage Bunshin no jutsu: Shadow clone jutsu

Fuuton: Daisenpuu no jutsu: Wind release: Great whirlwind jutsu

There is something else though. I've had these two story stuck in my head for a while but I don't know how it's do so I what you to review on if you want me to write it.

Ok, finished this, but I might wind up altering it a bit later.


	3. Team mission: Wave part 1

Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Tenjou Tenge**

"Normal talking"

"**Demon/Summoning talking" **

_Normal thinking_

_**Demon/ inner Sakura thinking**_

* * *

The sun was high on this Tuesday afternoon, the heat of the yellow orb bearing down on anyone without shelter. The one suffering from it the most was the blonde genin. It seemed his location on the training field was in the center of the sun's burning passion. Though he would not let it get to him; he was all too used to days like this.

Naruto stood steadfast, facing a healthy tree, easily over three times his height. He was in his fighting stance, looking as if he was about to throw a punch. His body was drenched with sweat, his breathing rate faster than normal. His white robe was slightly ajar, the sleeves on it being rolled to his shoulder. Black cargo pants covered his legs, being the main source of his discomfort in this heat. On his wrist are red wrist bands and red shin guards under his pants, which Anko had given him.

They were actually 35 pound weights in disguise.

His forehead protector covered his eyes as usual, seeming to soak up some of the sweat that was leaking from his forehead. On his back was his katana, which was placed diagonally to his back by a leather shoulder strap. A tan utility pouch was attached to his obi, which covered his waist, and a shuriken holster was tied his right leg.

"You're form is off!"

Naruto jumped slightly, the shout catching him off guard. Naruto corrected himself, standing straight once again. He tried hard not to turn to his silver haired companion and concentrated on his current action. He stepped on the ground, twisting his body just a bit. He concentrated collecting all the energy from his movement, bringing it to his right arm. Reeling said appendage back, Naruto used his chakra radar to take aim on the tree ahead of him.

The blonde rotated his body, his hair swaying at his motion. At the right moment, Naruto threw a punch, slicing straight through the space between him and his target. The instant his fist contacted the tree, he unleashed his pent up energy. The tree he hit, crumbled at the force, the bark crackling before it was ripped from its hold in the dirt.

The tree flew back, smashing into other trees along its path. Naruto cringed at the loud collision; that was not what he intended to do. He could hear the collapse of a few more trees coming down seconds later. Naruto panted, a low tsk escaping his mouth.

Clearly he was upset, the result not to his liking.

A second later, a hard object smashed against his head, sending a jolt of pain into his skull. In less than a second the boy was crouched, grabbing his head in pain. "Owch!" He let out, rubbing the damaged area.

"This is pathetic Naruto!" Maya scolded, coldly. "You should have this down already. It's been six years since you first learned it."

Naruto gritted his teeth, she was right, but it was so hard to do. "Maya-chan," He huffed. "I'm trying, but I just don't have the control for this."

The girl glared down at him, the hell he didn't. "Anybody can do this. Don't try and weasel your way out just because you find it hard."

Naruto turned his head to her, sending a pulse of chakra to the girl. He received her complete appearance and he found the girl looking, a bit like Sakura. On Maya's body was a silvery-blue, sleeveless, form fitting qipao, which came down to her knees. With two slits at her hips, it showed just enough skin, even though at her age it would be concerned more skin then should be shown. But at the same time it wouldn't restrict any type of kicks she would ultimately dish out. The hem of the dress was decorated with the tail of a gold dragon, circling up the dress, seemingly wrapping her in a tight embrace. The dragon's face rested just on her left breast, growling in warning for anyone who would touch her.

This time around, the girl wore her forehead protector around her waist, like a belt, her utility pouch attached to the back of it. A bandage is wrapped around her right leg, a shuriken holster being tied over it, just in arms reach. Leather gauntlets covered her forearms, metal being stitched into it for added protection. Leather greaves covered her leg, like with her gauntlets metal was stitched into it.

Anko was the one who provided her with them, filling the same purpose as Naruto's, extra weight.

What she used to hit Naruto was a 67 ½ inch nodachi, in its plain blue sheath. The long sword had a long hilt, wrapped in purple cording. It was too long for her to have on her back, so she carried it in her right hand. "But it's not just hard! It's super hard!" Naruto exclaimed, leaping up. "It's like trying to shoot an arrow into the moon."

Maya stared at him, letting the absurdity of his words set in her mind. "So that means I can shoot an arrow into the moon?" Maya asked making sure he knew exactly how that sounded. Naruto words froze in his mouth. He literally had no response to that. Well there was always the nervous agreement.

"M-maybe."

Maya glared down at him, sighing. "For that, give me twenty pushups. After that you will try it again." She ordered.

Naruto sighed, getting in pushup position. Before he could start, Maya sat on his back, placing the tip of her sword on the ground. "Start." She ordered. At that moment, Naruto went down before coming up just as easy. "One" Maya counted.

"Where do you think Hebi-sensei is?" Naruto asked going down.

"Two." Maya counted, Naruto coming back up. "I don't know. But she is taking a while. She's been gone since nine."

"You think she ate without us?" Naruto asked.

"After what happened last time?" Maya hummed thinking about it. "Probably. Three."

"Hey, it wasn't that bad." Naruto whined, his already burning arms, hurting that much more. But he pushed through it.

"Oh that fight you two had wasn't bad?" Maya asked, looking down at him. "Five." She counted, realizing she missed the last one.

"Hey,.. she started it. Nothing… i-is better than Ramen." Naruto exclaimed.

"I could name a few."

Maya looked back, spotting Anko under the shade of the tree. "Sensei." Maya greeted. "Seven."

Anko nodded, happy at their continuous training. "I bet…you couldn't." Naruto forced out, it was becoming increasingly harder to do this.

"I could. But I'll leave that for later." Anko said. She noticed the broken ground and had to wonder what he did, but she put it out of her mind for now. "I got good news."

"Oh." Naruto said, his arms starting to shake. "What's the news?" He was starting to slow down, taking five seconds to rest in between pushups.

"Come on. You have ten more." Maya urged. She looked back to Anko, wondering the same.

"Well I finally got old man to give us a C-ranked mission." Anko said. "Am I a wonderful sensei or what?" Her rejoice was met with a forced smile and a blank look.

"Three weeks of training…" Maya mumbled. "I think you did well."

Anko smiled at her praise, the two of them had been urging her to go on missions since they started. What better way to start off then this?

"When." Naruto huffed, panting as sweat fell from his face. "Do we go?"

"Well…after you finished with this. We meet in an hour." Anko said.

"What kind of mission is it?" Maya asked.

"It's an escort mission to Wave." Anko replied, crossing her arms. "We are to pair up with another team and protect a bridge builder."

Maya blinked surprised. "Is it really that dangerous of a mission?" Maya asked.

"No, the most we should expect is bandits." Anko said.

"So what would warrant the use of two teams for a C-ranked mission?" Maya asked with her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Nothing too important." Anko said, dismissing the question. "We'll meet with team seven at southern gate."

"Team 7?" Maya repeated, curiously.

"Yeah, the team with your cousin on it." Anko continued.

"Ni-ce" Naruto let out, giving his final pushup. He dropped a second later, his arms feeling like they were on fire.

"How long is the mission and how should we prepare?" Maya asked, placing her hand on Naruto's damp hair. She rubbed his blonde mane, as some sort of praise for completing his set. In all actuality it was his tenth set today.

"Quite lengthy. Bring enough weapons and clothing for at least a few weeks." Anko said. "And don't be late." A grin was the last thing Maya saw before her teacher disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"This seems suspicious." Maya mumbled.

"Yeah, it does, but there is nothing that can be done as of now." Naruto said, between pants. Maya's eyes came to him, agreeing with his words. "We will use this mission to show that we can work well as a team." A low moan left his mouth, she hadn't stopped rubbing his head, and she was actually scratching a little now.

"Alright, but it's never that easy with the old people." Maya said. Her hand left his head and she stood. He turned his head to her, figuring this was a good of a time as any.

"Um…Maya-chan." Naruto called.

"Hn." She let out, turning to her friend. She watched him stand, rubbing his hands of any dirt that hitched a ride up. He dug in his pouch, feeling around for something that wasn't sharp. After a moment he drew out a purple case. He showed it to her, a grin on his face. "What?"

"I need your help with something." Naruto said. Maya looked at him, then to the case.

"Ok." She answered. "What is it?"

"You'll know in a few moments." Naruto said, closing the distance between them. "First can you close your eyes and hold out your right hand?"

"Why?" Maya asked suspiciously.

"Pleaseeee" Naruto begged. She continued to stare at him before letting out a sigh.

"Alright. But if you grope me, I swear I'll break your arm." She warned.

"Alright, alright." Naruto said quickly. Maya hummed, following her the blonde's direction. She closed her eyes, moving her sword to her left hand. She moved her right hand out, her palm up. Naruto smiled happily, opening the case quietly. He drew out the glowing crystal, one of the two he worked so diligently on these pasted few weeks. It is now attached a nylon cord, which was connected by a silver clasp.

"Ok, Maya-chan." Naruto started. He lowered the jewel into her hand, feeling the movement of her hand through the string. "When I say so, generate chakra into this object."

"Alright." Maya said, her curiosity starting to rise. She wanted to open her eyes to see what it was. It felt like a sharp rock on something.

Hearing his friend's agreement, Naruto raised his free hand, making a tiger seal or half of one. He took a deep breath concentrating as hard as he could. After a moment, he felt a sudden heat deep in his body. The boy urged it on, pushing it towards his right hand as he pressed his palm against hers. "Start."

Maya nodded, molding her chakra before generating it into hand. She channeled it into the object, wondering why she was starting to feel a familiar malicious chakra coming from the boy across from her. Soon it became a lot more apparent to her, his body temperature increasing as well. "Naruto?"

"It's nothing." Naruto said. Naruto directed his chakra into the crystal, mixing it with Maya's for two minutes. Naruto smiled feeling the intended result take effect. Letting out loud sigh, the blonde stopped his action. "Alright, Maya-chan. You can stop now." He said.

"Finally." She muttered. She opened her eyes, looking at the sweaty boy first before his hand. She looked back up at Naruto, waiting for him to move his hand.

After another moment and nervous smile, the blonde did just that.

The now light purple crystal sparkled, the rays of the sun hitting it dead on. The light memorized her, an awestruck expression on her face. She hooked the cord around her fingers, tilting her palm so it would fall. She raised her hand up, as the crystal dangled. "Whoa…Where did you get this?"

Naruto smiled, both her expression and voice letting him know she like it. "Well, that a secret. But how do you like it?"

"It's awesome." She said. "But what's the occasion?" She tore her eyes away from the crystal, hoping to get some insight on this.

With a flushed face, Naruto quickly retrieved the necklace from her. "No occasion." He moved behind her, unclasping the fastener. "Stay still." Naruto sent out a chakra wave, taking in her position. He swung it around her neck, lifting up her hair and fastened it shut behind her neck. "There." He said, backing up. Maya turned around, facing the boy as she inspected the piece of jewelry.

Naruto hummed, the image of the jewel around her neck entering his mind. "It looks nice on you." Naruto said, smiling widely.

"Thanks." Maya let out, grinning, a blush on her face. "Well, um. We have to get ready for the mission."

Naruto nodded, he need to wipe off and get his stuff. "Alright, do you want to meet up at the gate?"

"Yea. First one there wins." She challenged. Naruto grinned mischievously; his house was closer to the gate.

"Alright." The blonde agreed.

"Oh. Take a quick shower, you'll all sweaty." Maya said.

Before her friend could reply, the older Natsume dashed away, leaving Naruto on the field alone. "No count down huh?" He asked himself, hearing her leave. Shaking his head, the boy turned in the direction of his home. He began walking, only to stop in front of the tree Anko was at.

Again he took up his stance, taking aim at the tree. Once again he rotated his body, reeling his arm back. Concentrating the energy from his motion into his arm, the boy arm lashed out, striking the tree dead on. Upon unleashing his energy, the sound of wood breaking rang out. Naruto hummed, the image of tree appearing in his mind. There was no damage to the surface, or so it seemed and the tree was still in place. So what was that sound?

Figuring he would investigate a little, the boy walked around to the back. He sent out a few pulses hoping to figure out what happened. The images of a few trees in the direct path of his attack appeared unharmed in his mind. Naruto hummed, turning his head to the tree. Sending out another of wave, the blonde saw that the back of the tree had a hole in it,

Naruto tilted his head, "Well I might not be able to get that exorcise down, but I can sure as hell attack somebody's insides." Naruto said. Shrugging, the genin turned away, deciding to start this race.

Naruto reached the front of his door, in a record time of nine minutes. Deciding not to catch his breath, the boy quickly undid the seal that kept his home impenetrable before unlocking it. He opened his door, running inside, taking his shoes off in a rush. Making a T sign with his hands, a puff of smoke appeared a clone. His clone dashed to his room, while he moved to the bathroom ready to take a quick five minute shower.

While he was doing that; his clone busted into his room, storming straight to his dresser. He went into drawn, feeling around for something that held all he needed. After a moment, the boy frowned, the object he desired not being where he left it. "Where is it?" He muttered, beginning to pull out clothing and tossing it behind him. Soon the drawer was empty, all content thrown on the floor. Shit, he had to find it now or he won't win this little race.

After his shower, Naruto walked into his room, a towel around his waist, almost completely dry. He frowned at the chaos that his once clean room was it. The contents of all three drawers was on the floor in a pile, as well as his closet, save a pair of boxers and a set of clothes, similar to the ones he just wore. "What the hell?" Naruto nearly shouted.

His clone turned to him shrugging. "I can't find it. It's not here." Naruto groaned; this was not good.

"Um…Check in the dresser in living room. It might be there." Naruto said. His clone perked up, before nodding. His doppelganger ran passed him, as he moved to the bed. He dressed quickly; outfitted with basically everything he had before, except now he had a red robe on instead of white. He sighed, figuring he would have to clean up when he gets back. Walking out of his room, he found the clone at the door, his sandal and scroll in hand. Naruto smiled, this would make it much easier.

He moved up to the clone, taking his sandals first and putting them on. "We should still have enough time to beat her." His twin said, handing him the scroll. Naruto nodded, putting the scroll away. "I'll take care of sealing the apartment." Naruto nodded, the shadow clone jutsu was so awesome. Now with everything set and planed for, Naruto left, hoping to get to the meeting spot before his friend.

It took Naruto nine minutes to reach his destination and boy he was happy. He had won; it took nearly 26 minutes to get here. Sure he could have gotten here five minutes sooner, but why not enjoy the walk here. To get to Maya's house and back would take at least thirty-five using half of the time to pack. So he yet again, had won their…

"What took you so long?"

Naruto face turned pale. It wasn't possible. Maya-chan couldn't have beaten him here. Sure she was quite the nimble feline, but she wasn't that fast. He must be imagining her voice. Yeah that's it; it wouldn't be the first time. "Are you ok? You look like you lost." She taunted.

Ok, maybe not.

Naruto sent out a pulse of chakra, finding his childhood friend leading up against a tree, grinning like a cat that just got her toy. His right hand rose up, an accusing finger pointed at her chest. "How in the hell did you get here before me?" He tried hard not to call her a cheater.

Maya chuckled. "Naruto, I'm just faster than you." In all actually she never packed, she got Aya to do it for her. So she shaved off quite the amount of time with that. When her cousin popped up, she would retrieve the scroll with her stuff in it.

Naruto frowned, sensing something amidst. "...Where's Aya-chan?"

"She's still packing. We're most likely going to be alone for another half an hour." Maya said, leaning off the tree. "So, what do you want to do?"

Naruto shrugged, not really sure what they should do. "You come up with something." Naruto muttered, crossing his arms.

"Ok." She cheered.

The blonde barely had time to draw his katana, to block vertical strike aimed at his shoulder. "Then some light sparring will do." She grunted, trying to push him off balance. It proved unfruitful, the boy seemingly stuck to the ground. Suddenly she was push back, Naruto leaping back to gain a little distance.

"That was a sucky warning." Naruto said.

"Ah, you blocked." Maya replied, smirking. She dashed at him, not allowing him to reply. Naruto seemed to predict such an action, backpedaled preparing his sword to go on the defensive.

Maya's attacks came in fast, leaving him no room for counters. The boy had to wonder if she had less weights on them him. Swiftly the blonde side stepped a horizontal slash, if he could see he would have noticed a few strands of his hair floating from his head.

But that was the least important thing to worry about.

Naruto once again broke apart from her, hoping to get some room to regroup. Maya didn't give him much time to do that though, following right after. Spinning the girl lashed out with a horizontal sweep. Naruto was lucky, ducking under it in time to avoid getting his hair cut. He rolled away carefully, avoiding cutting himself with his own weapon.

Getting to his feet, Naruto turned to the girl growling. Something was off here. "Hey! How are you moving so fast!?"

Maya blinked wondering why he asked. "What do you mean?"

"She just upped the weight to 30 yesterday. There is no way you are used to it." Naruto said. Maya's mouth dropped a little, her eyes widening in realization.

"So that's why you're slower." Maya muttered. A grin appeared on her face, Anko didn't change her weight just yet.

Somehow Naruto heard what she said. "Wait…..do you still have the same 15 pounds per limb?" Sending out a pulse of chakra, he saw his answer in the form of a huge smirk. "Ah shit." Again the silver haired girl dashed at him, her sword raised high above her head. Naruto stood, deciding to face her head on.

She came on him fast, bringing her sword downward toward the sucker. He wouldn't be able to stand to this. Though she was weaker than him physically, this one attack has proved time and time again, to force the boy to his knees. And she was sure it would happen once more.

Naruto turned his blade horizontally, generating as much chakra into his arms and hands as possible in this short amount of time. He pressed his left hand against the spine of the blade, pushing his blade out to intercept her longer sword.

The moment her sword smashed against his, his arms gave way, the blade being pushed near his face. The low cracking sounds underneath him reached his ears, his arms shaking as he tried to hold back the sharp sword. Naruto gritted his teeth, concentrating his chakra into his arms. He would not fall, not again. After a moment the pressure pushing down on him stopped and the boy sent a pulse of chakra out. He got the image of Maya's curious gaze, before she leapt back.

She landed, her blade resting on her shoulder. "Ah, so you stood up to that. Congrats." Though she praised him, her voice held a provoking undertone.

"Why thank you." Naruto growled, righting himself.

"No problem. I give praise when it's do." Maya replied, smiling.

"Then praise me for this too." Naruto said, gathering chakra into the edge of his katana. The edge shimmered, the blond putting his left hand on the hilt of the sword.

His friend, sensing his chakra input increase; she did the same channeling her energy into her blade. "You're going to cause a lot of commotion with that." Maya warned, though her grin betrayed her words.

"Don't know what you mean." Naruto returned. The boy ran toward her, catching her by surprise. She lashed out first, stopping the blonde's assault with her quicker move. Though that didn't dishearten the boy, he continued to try and strike out at her. Maya with the clear upper hand only chose to play with the boy, allowing him to start attacks that he would never finish.

Barely a minute passed when Naruto broke apart, leaping back more the one meter away. Maya grinned, guessing this was the time he would do it. She guessed right, watching him hop up, flipping in the air. Maya positioned her sword; ready to swing it horizontally. When Nauto came down, he swung his sword, the silver haired girl picking that moment to strike.

"Sonikku a-ku"

"Sonikku shuuha"

The two shouts signaled their attacks, the air distorting in the wake of Maya's swing, while the ground ripped apart in Naruto's. The two invisible attacks collided in between the two, the wind being pushed away. The air pushed against the two, anything loose on them blowing back. The moment Naruto's feet touched the ground, the boy ducked down low, the wave of chakra passing over his head.

Naruto's mouth twitched, the only reason he remained unharmed was he decided to use his chakra radar. The amount of chakra he used was severely lower than hers. The blonde was slightly irritated.

"Really?" Naruto shouted standing. "Really Maya-chan! Were you trying to kill me?" The blonde extended his sword, the tip pointing at the girl. Maya raised her left, scratching her cheek, a nervous smile on her face.

"Um…well you did dodge." Maya said, nervously.

"By luck! If I didn't have my chakra radar I would be headless." His angry shout was accompanied by a stomp of his foot.

Maya eyes narrowed, not too keen to being yelled at. "Hey! If you can't handle it give up!" Naruto jerked a little, his teeth grinding.

"Fine!" He exclaimed getting back into his stance. "I'll beat an apology out of you."

"Then come on!" Maya shouted.

Aya sighed lowly, walking towards the meeting place. Today she was wearing a blue, short sleeve blouse, and green pants. A tan utility pouch on attached to the back of her waist, in easy reach of her right hand. Tied to her left leg is a shuriken holster, along with bandages under it. Her katana was tied to her back by a leather strap and her forehead protector is on her forehead, the insignia covered by her hair.

Another sigh left her mouth, the current situation was pressing on her mind. Sure she was happy they finally got a serious mission and not a chore but going out to wave kind of made her nervous. This would be the first time outside the village and she wanted it to go well. But it made her really anxious.

Aya stopped the scent of burning wood entering her nostrils. Her nostrils flared, her eyes narrowing just a bit. She ran forward to investigate, hoping it wasn't what she thought it was.

Running up, she first spotted her two teammates. They stood quite a distance from the gate, seemingly frozen solid. "Sakura-san, Sasuke-san!" She called.

They didn't turn to acknowledge her.

She slowed down, wondering what they were looking at that had them so entranced. Walking up to Sakura's side, the brunette spied what they were staring at. In an instant her mouth dropped, the visual imaginary assaulting her mind. Chunks of the earth were missing, large holes being left in the ground. The few trees that should have littered the area were either uprooted, cut in half, or set ablaze, or a combination of the tree. Trace amount of blood could be seen, though the flames were more attention seeking and drew people's eyes to it. Two swords stood in the center, seemingly abandoned by their owners.

"That's the way to do it Maya-chan!" She heard. She turned her head a bit, spotting the purple haired woman known as Anko Mitarashi, sitting on a tree branch barely four meters away from her. A huge smile was on her face, her brown bag next to her.

It seems that the two genin had missed a tree.

Aya turned her head back to the field, seeing her cousin come down with a kick. A blonde blob of hair caught her attention, swaying viciously as it moved out of Maya's range. Naruto came around, throwing a round house kick toward his teammate. The attack was blocked, Maya using her arms to stave off any damage to her face. A smirk was on her face as she pushed his leg back. Taking the small opening, the silver haired girl lashed out, with a left hook, hitting her friend right in his side.

"Kah!" Naruto let out, nearly crumbling to the ground. He recovered though, backing up a bit.

"Naru-chan! Put more of your weight into your attacks!" Anko ordered. Naruto nodded, coming back in. Throwing a feint with his left, which Maya fell for, the blonde, took the opening, striking low at her right thigh. She gritted her teeth; that was the fifth strike to her leg, which stung quite a bit but nothing too bad.

That didn't matter though; Maya would not back do from this….wait why were they fighting again? Oh well, no time to think of that now.

The girl reacted going for a high kick. The pain reduced her speed just enough for the blonde to duck under it. He punished her failed attack, with three quick strikes to her side, and one to her arm. She leapt away, a feat which would remain a mystery to her, considering her position.

Maya landed near the tree Anko was on, moving her arm forward before smashing her elbow into the bark. Sure it hurt, but Naruto's attacks hurt more. The tree shook, Anko nearly losing her balance and falling. "Hey! Watch it!" She shouted down, a mass of leaves dropping down. The back of it was blown outward as the leaves fell from the tree.

She gathered chakra into her hands, swinging her arms in a wide arc above her. She collected quite a few leaves, concentrating her energy into them before launching them at the blonde. They flew fast, seemingly like shuriken in the air.

Anko realized the danger almost immediately and knowing her student, she knew he wouldn't try and dodge. Seeing her judgment was right, Naruto in position to throw a punch, the woman yelled out her warning. "Idiot, don't intercept! Dodge it!"

He heeded her advice, leaning over as they flew over him. One was lucky and cut a drop of sweat that flew from his cheek. Naruto lean back, his mental image of her showing her approach, her fist reeled back in preparation. Naruto let out a breath, rushing forward. He would match her fist with one of his. He would realize soon enough, that this was a bad move.

When Naruto reached her, the girl leapt up, giving Naruto a face fill of her panties. With her leg on his shoulders, her thighs squeezing his head, she leaned back quickly and forcefully. With Naruto's now ridge stance, he could not stop himself from being flipped into the air. But that wasn't it, before he could even reach the apex of ascension; Maya had jumped after him twisting her body. Naruto barely had time to get out of his stupor before kick after kick rained down on him, forcing his body into a spin. He wasn't really sure when he blacked out, but he did know he didn't feel the pain of hitting the ground.

Maya landed, seconds after her blonde friend, breathing heavily. This was quite the battle. She stood up, her leg still stinging. After her body cooled, and the adrenaline left receded, she was sure her leg would hurt like a bitch.

"Naruto!"

Maya looked back, watching Aya run toward Naruto, who was face first on the ground. She slid to a stop at his side and knelt down. The silver haired girl hummed, wondering when she came. Scratching her head, Maya slowly made her way over to them, a slight limp in her step. She watched her cousin turned Naruto over, tapping lightly on the face. "Naruto-kun, Naruto-kun!" She called, reverting to using honorifics. "Answer me!"

Anko jumped down from her perch, taking her bag with her. Landing in a crouch, the snake woman stood, walking over to her downed student. "That was a nice win Maya-chan. So what's it up to now?" She asked.

Maya stopped a few feet from Naruto, trying to calm her breath. "Um….it's really high, Naruto's the one who keeps score."

"What are you two talking about!" Aya shouted. "He isn't not moving!"

Anko grinned, liking how concerned she was. That didn't stop her from teasing her. "What's this? For you to yell at a ninja of higher position, you must be crushing on him hard."

Aya's face lit up; there was no way this woman found out so fast. "Sensei, stop playing around." Maya said. "She hasn't seen our training regimen. There is no way she could know he's alright."

Anko looked at Maya, nodding in understanding. Though she figured she was just protecting her cousin's secret. "Anyway. He'll be alright….probably."

"Probably?!" Aya exclaimed. "What do you mean probably!?"

"There is always the chance that he won't" Anko answered grinning. "But Naru-chan is known to take worst. So it should be ok." The snake ninja knelt down, looking at his face. She moved her right hand over, wiping the blood from his nose and mouth. "Naru-chan." Anko called, leaning to his ear. Her next words were inaudible to everyone, even Aya who was right next to her. Anko drew her head from him, a mischievous, yet….animalistic look on her face. It slightly put Aya on edge.

At that moment Naruto sat up, his head turned to Anko. "Are you serious?" Anko grinned, rubbing his head.

"Yep. But later." She said. A huge bright smile appeared on Naruto's face, he just won the lottery, no something better than the lottery.

"Naruto!"

Naruto turned his head a second before two arms wrapped around his neck. The scent of a certain flower entered his nostrils. "Aya-chan?!" He said, curiously.

Aya broke apart, pushing him back a little to take a look at his body. "Naruto are you alright? She didn't damage you too much did she?" Aya asked.

"He's fine!" Maya exclaimed, feeling like somehow she was in the wrong. "He takes three times the amount of damage from her every day." She pointed at Anko, who smiled and waved, obviously proud of her accomplishment.

"So what?!" Aya shouted back. "We are about to leave on a mission. What the hell are you doing fighting like that anyway?" Aya's heated glare made her cousin take a step back, the thought of what made them fight lost on her.

"Why were we fighting?" Naruto asked, scratching his head. Maya shrugged, at least they were both lost on that.

"You two don't even know why?" Aya said surprised. They both shook their heads, a nervous smile on their faces.

"Well, it's the usual." Anko said, standing. "Stand up so I can take a look at you."

"Ok." Naruto began to stand, Aya moving with him just in case he needed help. His mouth twitched, his stomach being the source of his pain. He let out a low grunt, standing to his full height.

Anko moved in, grabbing his leather strap before sliding it off. She placed it in his right hand before grabbing his robe. She pulled it apart and slid it down his arms. She looked at his torso, humming at the light discoloration around his side and middle of his stomach. He should have bruises but knowing Naruto, he should be healed completely pretty soon.

"You'll be fine." Anko diagnosed. For emphasis, she smacked his side, where Maya punched not even five minutes ago. Naruto's mouth closed tight, his head back as he gritted his teeth. If his forehead protector wasn't over his eyes, there would be tears dripping down his face.

Maya's eyes widen, "Why would you do that?!" She threw a pretty hard right hook there. He should be hurting for a while.

Anko waved her off. "He's fine." She said, walking over to Maya. The purple haired woman, knelt down, grabbing Maya's right leg. The girl hissed, the pain surging up her thigh. "You're going to have bruises." Anko said. She slid her hand up, touching her side. The girl flinched, trying to get away from her touch. "But overall you'll be alright." Anko moved to smack her side, can't show favorites now could she?

"Ahhh!" Maya screamed, gritting her teeth. That hurt!

"Hebi-sensei….Why are you causing us more pain?" Naruto asked, slipping on his strap. Anko stood smiling brightly at the boy.

"Because…." She paused, her eyes narrowed. "You two were stupid enough to do this."

Naruto turned to her, his mouth open. "But you didn't stop us!" Anko walked over to him and stopped right in front of him. She bent over, her hands on her waist.

"Well, Naru-chan." She said, cheerfully. Suddenly her hands were on his cheeks, pinching and pulling as some sort of punishment for talking back. She noticed Aya nearly lash out for it, but paid no mind. "It is common sense not to injury your teammate before a mission."

"Buwah" Naruto let out, not daring to stop her.

"Ok…Lesson learned. Never again will we do that." Maya said, her eyes twitching. Anko looked back at the girl, nodding.

"Good. Now grab your swords and get ready to depart." She said, releasing the blonde. Naruto rubbed his cheeks, mumbling as he walked away. "What was that?"

"I said, if my side didn't hurt, I would have groped those fine breasts of yours." Naruto answered. That's exactly what he mumbled.

Anko blinked, chuckling a little. Even when being scolded he still had a perverted comeback. Oh how fun this job was.

The two genin grabbed their respective swords, pulling it from the ground. "So, where are mister one-eye and the client?" Naruto asked, sheathing his blade, a low grunt following his motion.

"Aya, can you pass me my sheath. It's near the tree." Maya asked. Aya nodded, turning and walking to grab the sheath.

"I don't know. He was supposed…" Anko stopped turning her head, towards the other genin of team 7. Sasuke seemed to be scowling, a light blush on his face, while Sakura was still shocked. But what drew her attention was the two men, walking up. Though there were more people around, seemingly attached to the noise her team made. "Speak of the devil."

Both Kakashi and the old man came to a stop, looking at the tattered area. "Oh….my." Kakashi said, raising his hand to his covered mouth.

"What the hell happened here?" The old man shouted.

Naruto turned to them, his chakra radar giving him the image of the man who just spoke. The man was tall, standing at a height of 5 ft. 8 inches. His hair, which looked to be spiky is a solid tone of grey. Dark eyes scanned the area, glasses that hooked around his ears, helping him to see. Or so Naruto assumed, the spectacles was low on his large nose. Hair covered over his lip, circling his lips to his chin in, short beard.

The old man was wearing a dark grey, V-neck, sleeveless shirt. An purple obi is tied around his waist, holding his shirt down around his large gut. A brown pair of pants covered his legs; going down to his ankles and light tan sandals covered his feet. A large pack was tied to his back by ropes he hand over his arms, a sleeping bag or tent was rolled up on top of it. A white towel was over his shoulder and to top it off, he had a round pointed hat on his head.

Strange thing….he looked familiar. Naruto just didn't know from where.

Sakura answered the question with a simple point of her finger. Tazuna caught it quickly, looking at Naruto and Maya who he hasn't even met yet.

"Whoa. Two small brats did all this?" Tazuna said. He didn't notice how Maya and Naruto's ear twitched.

"I'm going to ignore what he just said." Maya said, Aya reaching her. She helped slide it on the blade for Maya, secretly placing the scroll that held Maya's things in her pouch. Maya noticed it, nodding with a smile.

Anko clapped her hands, happy that they can get on their way and away from this mess. Somebody will clean it up. "Alright, now that everyone is here. We can be on our way." Naruto hummed, turning his head to her. A second later everything clicked.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait." Naruto chanted, completely surprised. "He's the client?" He pointed at the man, hoping she would say no.

Too bad, she wouldn't give it.

"Yep." Anko said. "He's our client. His name is Tazuna."

"Oh hell no. I'm not doing it!" Naruto crossed his arms, taking a defiance stance.

Anko perked up, blinking in disbelief. "What?"

"I don't protect men. It's against my code." Naruto said, decisively.

"Wait, who did you think a bridge builder was anyway, a woman?" Maya asked, curiously.

"Well yes. It was a possibility." Naruto said, turning to her.

"Naruto, you don't have a choice in the matter." Anko said, with a stern glare.

Things were getting serious.

Naruto cheeks puffed out, his head turned away, "I'm not doing it and you can't make me." Naruto said.

"Now Naruto." Aya said, trying to get open him up.

"Uh-uh. Not happening, Aya-chan."

"Um…Naruto-san." Kakashi said, walking forward a bit. "The mission has already been accepted, it can't be aborted."

Naruto turned his head to him, humming. "Nope. Not working." He replied.

"Look, Naruto."

"That's fine." Tazuna interrupted. "I don't need a short, stupid looking kid protecting me anyway."

Tazuna chose that moment to blink, but when his eyes were open, the point of a sharp blade was an inch from his face. His eyes widen, leaping back surprised. He noticed that the blade shook, the boy who was across the area now in front of him, hold the blade. He noticed, the man, Kakashi was holding him back, from behind. "It's not such a good idea to kill your client." Kakashi advised. Naruto's head tilted back, a low rumbling growl coming from his mouth.

"Oh Shit!" Maya exclaimed.

"Huh?" Anko let out.

"Kakashi-sensei, move out the way!" Aya warned loudly. Again Tazuna blinked, the cracking of the ground reached his ears, and a shout from his pink haired protector, just as he opened his eyes. He saw the two, who was now broke apart, both one edge. Kakashi was away from him, his one visible eye glaring at the boy, his right hand on his stomach. Naruto on the other hand, was in a stance, his sword positioned to attack. A trail of cracked earth was between them, showing that the battle lines have been drawn. The old man had to wonder now…what did he just start.

Naruto growled at the man, his body shaking uncontrollably. "I'll give you one warning." Naruto forced out. "Don't….get behind me."

Kakashi gazed at him, feeling a strange feeling overcome him. It was like he was being over watched by something, something that was peering into his very essence.

Naruto turned toward Tazuna, pointing his blade at the older man. "Don't you ever call me stupid again." He said, failing to notice the long, shiny metal wire spiraling around him. Before he could sheath his blade, the line constricted, wrapping around Naruto tightly. "The Fuck!" Then he was pulled off his feet.

He landed on his side, being reeled in to the feet of his sensei. "What the fuck is wrong with you!" Anko exclaimed, grabbing his shirt once again, before lifting him up, clear off the ground.

"What's wrong with me?" Naruto repeated as his feet dangled in the air. "What's wrong with them?!"

"They aren't the ones who attacked first." Anko said her voice quite lower then it was a second ago.

"They might as well have." Naruto returned his voice only for her to here. "I'm not good with insults."

"You get insulted all the time." Maya said. Naruto turned his head to her, realizing she was a lot closer than he thought.

"That may be, but you guys don't mean it and I know you guys."

"Whoop de doo." Anko said. "And how does that explain you attacking a jounin."

Naruto paused for a moment, thinking about his next words. Yeah, he wouldn't say what he really wanted. "I don't like…guys behind me." Naruto said. Anko narrowed her eyes, looking at Maya who slightly looked away.

"You're going to apologize to them." Anko said. Naruto opened his mouth to speak but was silenced when Anko pulled his forward a bit more, their noses touching. "This is not up for discussion. You're apologizing to both of them for you rash actions."

Naruto bit his lip, but nodded in agreement. "Good." Anko approved. She pushed him out, before dropping him. He landed on his feet and the wire landed with him. She blinked surprised. She did not do that.

"If I got out before, you would have hit me." Naruto muttered, as if reading her mind.

So he's an escape artist….Nice.

Naruto sheathed his blade turning to face, the two males. Taking a deep breath Naruto opened his mouth, only to close it a second later. "OK." Naruto shouted, causing Aya, Sakura, and Tazuna to jump. "Kakashi-san, Tazuna-san." Naruto inhaled…this was hard. "I'm….Sorry." Naruto squeezed his mouth shut.

He was going to explode.

"Um…it's no…"

"For you two being SUCH…MAGHAGHGAHGAH" Naruto found himself being held back, his mouth being covered by two hands.

"Damn it Naruto." Anko muttered. Kakashi actually found this funny. "Um, he's sorry for being such a hot head."

Kakashi chuckled. "It's alright. He's just cautious." Kakashi looked at Tazuna, his eye closed in his famous eye smile. "Right Tazuna."

Tazuna shook his head vigorously, figuring he would be better to just agree.

"Good…Now everything is straight." Anko said, cheerfully. "Let's go."

Naruto finally got Anko's hands off him. Breathing out, he turned his head to her. "I'm not doing it" He said, breaking away from her.

"Naruto…"

"Come with me for a sec." Maya said, grabbing Naruto's arm.

"Whoa, wait! I'm making an important political statement." Naruto called. Everyone watched as Maya limped off, dragging Naruto with him. They ended up out of sight, everyone deciding to move up to Anko, who put her bag on her back.

Sakura stopped next to Aya, leaning over to her. "He's quite a baby isn't he?" Sakura whispered. Aya looked at her, narrowing her eyes. She looked forward smiling a little.

"If I remember correctly; you were about to cry over Naruto's last escapade." Aya said. Sakura jerked, mouth twitching. She couldn't say anything about that. But that wouldn't stop her from getting angry.

They didn't realize the teachers heard and Anko was quite curious as to what he did. Now she wondered what they were talking about and how she would smack some sense into the boy.

"We should leave the dobe." Sasuke said, breaking his vow of silence. Everyone looked at him, Kakashi already dismissing what he said.

"We can't do that." Kakashi said. "He's a comrade and part of our team for this mission. And we don't leave teammates behind."

"Hmph." Sasuke let out, deciding to brood over this.

After three minutes of waiting, the two genin walked out or more specially, Naruto walked out with Maya riding piggyback. Her hands were on his shoulder, her back straight so her developing chest wasn't pressed against his back. His katana and her nodachi were on her back, the strap holding both weapons. A wide smile was on her face, "Ok. We're ready."

Anko raised an eyebrow, this was new. "Works for me." Anko said.

And so the group left the village, taking standard position. Naruto and Maya were behind the group, deciding not to have a repeat of early. Anko walked on Naruto's right, the boy being closer to the trees lining their path. Tazuna walked just ahead of them, his eyes glancing back at the blonde. He was still afraid it seems. Kakashi was on his right, while the other members of his team were on Tazuna's left.

They walked pretty silently, content not to make much noise. Naruto noticed three things with his chakra radar. The first, Sasuke kept glancing back. The second, Sakura seemed annoyed at something. And the third, Anko was about to ask something.

"So…Why are you carrying her?" Anko asked, as predicted. Naruto turned his head, fixing his hold on her legs.

"…Well she said her leg hurt." Naruto muttered his head down, dejected. Anko eyes rose to Maya who was smirking devilishly.

"Care to explain."

"Oh, I just asked. Naruto isn't the type to allow someone he hurt to worsen their injuries." Maya noticed she had the attention of the team ahead of them.

"Nu-uh." Naruto let out. "I'm only carrying you because you beat me."

"So?" Maya replied. "It's not like you would have said no anyway." Maya placed her elbows on his shoulder, her hands now on top of his head.

"Oh yeah, about that." Naruto growled. "How dare you not lean against me? What kind of piggy back ride is this?" Naruto shifted her again, noticing she had a grip on his hair now. "You're supposed to be rubbing your breasts into my back."

Anko laughed whilst Aya palming her forehead. "Pervert." Sakura mumbled.

"Pervert?" Naruto repeated. "Sakura-chan, you wound me. I'm not a pervert."

Sakura turned fully towards him, glaring. "Yes you are."

Naruto tilted his head or tried to, as he thought about it. A moment of realization came of him before he smiled. "Are you still mad about what I did?"

Sakura flinched, a vein pulsing on her head. She remembered it too vividly to not be mad and embarrassed.

"Yeah, she's still mad." Aya answered for her. "I hear about it every day."

"Aya-san!" Sakura exclaimed.

"What did you do?" Maya asked.

"I tied her up." Naruto replied, casually. Anko stared at him, a smile growing on her face.

"Did you use what I taught you?" The snake woman asked.

"You know it!" He gloated.

"Awesome." Anko cheered, pumping her arm up.

"How did you tie her up?" Maya asked, confused.

"You remember Suzume?" He asked. Maya stared at him, remembering a particular scene. She didn't know why but Suzume-sensei running in the room looking for Naruto with ropes wrapped around certain "parts" of her body was hilarious. Even funnier, she couldn't get them off.

"Huh? That was you!" Kakashi let out, his one eye wide. Naruto turned his head to the man, giving only a little nod. Kakashi looked ahead, his mouth open, though nobody could tell. 'Ok everything that happened today…..I'll forget solely because of that.' Yeah Kakashi happened upon her as she stormed to Iruka's class. Somehow Naruto made her look like the sexiest woman in the world that day.

"Oh." Maya let out, shaking her head. "And you did that to Sakura?" Naruto nodded.

"Well, I added a bit. I tied her breasts to her crotch." Naruto said.

"AH!" She let out, loudly. "DO YOU HAVE TO SAY THAT?!" Kakashi let out a low sigh, that goodness they should only expect bandits.

"But Sakura-chan, your nipples were hard. It was obvious you were excited." Naruto pointed out. Sakura shook, her anger reaching an all new high.

"Naruto….I think that's enough. She looks like she's about to explode." Aya said, grinning.

"Aw, alright." Naruto let out, displeased. Teasing her was so fun.

"Hm….Naru-chan, I thought you were attracted to women who are more….developed?" Anko let out, grabbing her breast and giving them a squeeze. Sakura's eyes twitched just a bit.

"A women's beauty is not based on her breast size Hebi-chan." Naruto said, bouncing Maya lightly.

"Oh?" Anko questioned, dropping her hands.

"Yeah. Their butts have to be nice also."

"You almost impressed me Naruto." Maya said shaking her head.

"What? Would it have been better to lie?" Naruto asked.

"This time….probably." Maya replied, her eyes going to Anko. "So sensei. Have you ever been to wave?"

Anko frowned, why did she have to shift it to business? It was getting fun. "No. I never really had anything to do there."

"Yay! So the mystery of terrain is upon us." Naruto cheered.

"Naw, I'm informed about the terrain and I'm pretty sure Kakashi-san has been there once." Anko said.

"Yeah. I went there. But it was a long while ago." Kakashi agreed.

"Then are there ninja in wave country?" Aya asked, slightly worried.

"Nope they don't have any." Kakashi replied. "With wave being surrounded by water they really don't need them."

"That sounds like a nice place for missing nin to go." Naruto muttered. "I hope they attack." The gleeful grin that appeared on his face, mirrored that of his sensei's.

"Naruto, the best battle is a battle one doesn't need to fight." Maya said. Kakashi nodded at that, something he would expect the girl to say.

"Nicely said." Anko praised.

"Aw! But I want the cliché mission." Naruto whined. "You know, short rich fat guy screwing things up and sending missing ninja and ronin to fuck with us."

Kakashi smiled, looking at the boy. "I don't think that's going to happen."

Sakura nodded in agreement, "Yeah, we're only going to encounter bandits if anything."

"But why would bandits attack a bridge builder?" Looking at Anko, Maya hoped she would answer her question.

"Eh?" Anko looked at her, eyebrow raised. "Bandits would attack anybody who looks like they have something."

"Oh, plus they would attack a group with beautiful woman too." Naruto chimed in.

"You're right about that kid." Anko, grinned, rubbing her right hand down her body. "With someone as sexy as me here, we should be getting hounded."

"That's pretty conceited." Maya said. Both Aya and Sakura nodded in agreement.

Naruto on the other hand looked completely surprised. "That means we should encounter hordes of bandits," they could practically hear the girlish squeal come from the boy's mouth. "Maya-chan, Aya-chan! Prepare for war!"

Maya almost laughed. Naruto was being Naruto. So she would join him. "To war!" Her shout rang out, the girl pumping her right arm up high.

Anko didn't know why, but this was so fun. "To War!" Pumping her arm the, the snake ninja joined her team, her gleeful shout drawing snickers from the other jounin.

Aya just watched them, wondering if she should join it, it wouldn't really hurt too. But truth be told; the idea of fighting a gang of bandits didn't really appeal to her.

Maya turned her head to her sensei, her arm dropping as she thought about the situation. The princess wouldn't fight. "Anko-sensei, you can't fight. You would be their objective, so you would have to be kept out of their range to avoid you being apprehended."

A look of displeasure crossed Anko's face. "Wah? That's not fun." She crossed her arms, humming before a great thought appeared on her face. "I'll renounce that role for now," she said. "And give it to Aya-chan. She shall be the princess."

Aya looked back at her, the role wasn't really too bad. She could sit back and wait until they finished. But then again it would mean she trained all these years for nothing.

"Ooo!" Sakura turned waving her hand. "I could be the princess." She blushed glancing over to Sasuke.

Maya looked at Sakura before her eyes came to her teacher. "That's completely unfair. You can't just change your status midway."

"Uh-huh. It was never stated that I couldn't." The snake ninja looked at Sakura smiling. "Besides, if Sakura-chan wants to be the princess, she should be able to."

Sakura's face lit up, so she wasn't ignored.

Maya glared, since she wanted to be so stubborn, it was time to convince the one who started this to agree with her. "Naruto tell her she can't switch."

Naruto mouthed opened. He really had no problem against it, but Maya was in better position to mess with him, unhindered. "Well…um…Hebi-sensei…"

And this was how they passed the time. Talking, joking, and slightly playing. Everyone got in on it except Sasuke who was doing his brooding thing and Tazuna, who looked worried. Sakura tired not to enter it, but Naruto's influence was grand. Kakashi just happened to include himself in it. Naruto didn't really mind that much, only because he seemed to facilitate his perverted comebacks.

It didn't seem like it to them, but two hours had passed since they started. The sun was still up, the time being around four o'clock, not that anybody was really playing attention. It seemed like almost everyone was having fun. Tazuna on the other hand looked to be getting more and more worried about his protectors easy going nature.

Tazuna looked over at Kakashi, trying to ignore the playful banter of Naruto and Maya. With a single drop of sweat sliding down his tanned skin, opened his mouth, "Um…should you guys really be…so relaxed?"

Kakashi looked at him and gave him a disarming smiled. "Don't worry. If anything comes up we will get serious."

"Yeah, with me here, nothing will touch you old man." Anko curled her arm for emphasis. But the thought crossed her mind of why he was so nervous.

Tazuna looked at the purple haired woman and gave a nervous smile. He looked ahead pulling his hat down a bit. 'I wonder will these guys be able to protect me.'

"Oh yeah, Hebi-sensei, since we're going to a place with a lot of water…Will I get to see you skinny dipping again?" Naruto asked a cheeky grin on his face. Anko stared at him, humming. She realized that everyone was now paying attention, some more than others.

Kakashi's one visible eye was wide, shock and disbelief gleaming in his black orb. 'He…he saw her naked!?'

Anko smiled at her student, nodding her head. "You might get a chance. But you will have to uncover your eyes first."

Naruto's grin left his face, the boy turning his head forward. Anko's objective was now made completely clear. She wanted to see his eyes but that wasn't an option, at least not yet.

Maya laughed tapping the covering. "That's not going to work. He doesn't take this thing off for anything." A thought crossed her mind and she began trying to untie his forehead protector.

"Oi!" Naruto shook his head, trying to dislodge her hands from his fabric of the plated bandana. "Don't even think about it. I'll drop you."

Her hands stopped, her eyes narrowed. She would call his bluff. "No you won't."

"I would."

Maya smirked, deciding to test him. She reached to grab the knot only for her teacher's voice to stop her.

"Don't do it, Maya-chan. This isn't the time to have Naru-chan run around like a chicken without a head."

The silver haired girl heeded her order, deciding to place her hands back on top of his blonde spikes. She could hear a light sigh from Naruto, before something caught her attention. She started to glance around, hoping to figure out who was there.

Not finding any source visible, the girl turned to her teacher. "Anko-sensei there is…" She paused looking down at Naruto. She could feel his left index finger tracing on her thigh. 'Don't…say ….anything….you…might…alert…them.' Maya hummed, so there were two of them.

Anko stared at her ward, wondering why she stopped. "What is it Maya-chan?"

Maya looked back at her smiling. "Oh it's nothing." Her lie seemed to be accepted, her teacher going back to her earlier statement.

"So, Maya-chan you think Naru-chan wouldn't take his forehead protector off to see me naked?"

"Of course not. He only takes the thing off to read."

Anko blinked at the girl, quite surprised. She thought he took it off at least in the house. Wait did Maya say only to read? "So he keeps it on in the bath?" Then another question crossed her mind. "Hold on, how would you know that?"

"Because we…"

"Talk a lot." Naruto interrupted. Anko looked at him before looking at Maya. The girl was looking down at her friend with a curious expression on her face. So that's not the reason. Did Maya peek on him in the bath or something?

Through all this, Sakura found herself oddly confused. "Wait….So you can see? I thought you were blind with some hideous scar over your eyes."

Naruto opened his mouth, appalled at such an assumption. "Of course I can see." Maya tapped his shoulders, signaling she wanted down. "I could always see. But I do have a horrible disfigurement." Naruto released his hold on Maya's legs, allowing the girl to climb down. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah." The older Natsume replied. "I feel good enough to kick your ass again."

Naruto turned his head to her, frowning. "What kind of blasphemy are you speaking?"

"It's not blasphemy." Maya returned a grin rubbing her hands together. "I whooped your ass a few hours ago as proof."

"We both know that you were just lucky."

Aya turned to them, hoping to be the source that stops this before it goes too far. "Please don't start another fight." Aya's soft voice seemed to not have reached them.

"I was not lucky. I'm just skilled." Maya said

Naruto tiled his head a bit, his mouth quirked. "Oh, then it's not luck that you just so happened to jump up at that moment?"

"Nope." Maya grinned, happy at her attack.

"So it's not luck that you so happen to be wearing my favorite pair of red panties?"

Everyone's heads dropped, favorite pair of panties? How perverted is this guy or better yet, what type of panties is she wearing?

"Nope. I put these on solely because of you." Maya nodded as if agreeing with herself. Everyone's head perked up, this was getting really weird.

"Explain." Naruto said, crossing his arms in disbelief.

"Ok. I planned on wearing this dress today." Maya started off, crossing her arms. "And since we fight every day, I figured you would get to "see" my panties. And thus freeze you in your tracks."

Naruto stopped which caused everyone else to stop as well. His mouth was slightly ajar, his fingers tapping against his left bicep. "Alright. I'll give it to you, but only because of that explanation. Because we both know you're lying."

"Uh-huh. Sure." Maya replied, wondering what tipped him off.

"But that still doesn't change the fact that you were lucky." Naruto stated.

"Oh, god." Maya let out, her arms dropping. "I'm not lucky, I'm skilled." Now she was getting angry. How dare he deny her abilities?

"Not enough to beat me."

"Guys." Aya called again, hoping to catch their attention.

"Fine, you want a rematch?!" Maya glared, sneering at him. "I'll kick your ass right here."

Naruto slapped his chest, "Bring it on."

As if a sign, both genin began to throw a punch, only to be stopped by the jounin. Anko held Naruto's arm, keeping him from moving, while Kakashi held his teammates.

"Ah, ah, ah." Anko let out, cheerfully. "No fighting you two."

Kakashi spoke next disappointed in their actions. "This isn't a good time to for combat. We are on a mission."

"She started it." Naruto said, a accusing finger pointed at his friend.

"No, you did." Maya glared harder. "You should just accept the freaking lost."

"You got.."

"Ah! No more of that." Anko said. "Since you two have so much pent up energy. I'll make sure to train you extra hard when we reach our destination."

Both of the genin's attentions were brought to her, displeased with the thought. "But, Hebi-sensei, how would I get the chance to see you naked if you do that?" Naruto asked.

Maya's eyes snapped to him, narrowed in a glare once again. "Why is everything something perverted with you?!"

"Just continue on." Anko pushed Naruto ahead, releasing his arm.

"Hmph." Naruto released walking ahead. Maya followed his lead, Kakashi releasing her as well.

With a sigh from the group of genins, the two teams began walking once again. An awkward silence now filled the group, no one really wanting to break it. The two members of team Anko, heads were turned away from each other, both frowning in discontent. Anko scratched her head, wondering how to fix this. "Hey Maya-chan." Naruto called suddenly.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"What color panties does Aya-chan have on?"

And thus the awkward silence was broken. Aya face lit up, everyone looking at Naruto.

"You perv! That's not something you ask!" Sakura shouted, though the boy didn't pay much attention to her.

"I don't know." Maya scratched her head, trying to remember if she saw them. "I think blue."

The brunettes eyes moved to her cousin, "Maya!" How dare she tell him such a thing.

"What?" Maya said, confused. It's not like he hasn't seen all of them before.

A gleeful smile appeared on his face, the boy turning to Maya. "OH! Is it the cute blue ones? You know the ones that have the little butterfly on the front"

Before Maya could answer, Anko tapped him on the back of his head. "Ow!" Naruto grabbed his head, rubbing the now stinging area.

"It's not polite to ask your friend what kind of panties she has on." Anko said. Naruto frowned, before grinning.

"Ok….What kind of you have on Hebi-SENSEI!?" He emphasized the fact she was his teacher, hoping this would prompt her to spill the beans. Anko stared at him, everyone's eyes now on her. "Wait, no. don't say it. I'll find out later." With that, the older woman gave him a harder punch, altering his pace slightly.

Naruto took it like a man, not making any noise, though that didn't stop Maya and Kakashi from laughing at him.

Walking for five minutes, the group came across a puddle in the middle of the road. The genin of team 7 walked passed it, not really noticing it. Tazuna seemed not to care, drinking some water. Naruto and Maya passed it next, Maya glancing down at it. Naruto grabbed her hand, just as Anko and Kakashi passed it. Both jounin gave the puddle a good look as they continued on.

Anko prepared herself for anything that could happen, though she found herself staring at something more interesting. Her two brats were holding hands. How cute, she had a feeling they were something….Wait Naruto's thumb. She narrowed her eyes, focusing on his how he moved his digit. He was spelling something out. 'Two…ninja….in…the…puddle.' Anko thought, her eyes widening. She knew they had good senses but this just brought it up. Did Naruto know how to sense chakra? The snake ninja focused, watching as Naruto continued. 'Let's see….genin?' She glanced at Maya, who shook her head. Looking back down she noticed Maya was writing something in Naruto's palm, but could not tell what she was communicating.

Everything was cut off, the sounds of clothes flapping in the air. Within seconds chains wrapped around the two jounin, pulling them together. "What!" "What the hell!" Came out, the first from Kakashi and the second from Anko.

Everyone turned quickly hearing their teacher's surprised voices. "Huh?" Aya and Sakura let out. Naruto kept silent, his chakra radar allowing him to see the two ninja.

The first was on the right of Anko, standing at a height of 5 ft. 8 though he was crouching a bit. Wild, dark brown, shoulder length hair came down, framing his face. Dark eyes are constructed, his orbs containing his pure intent to kill this group.

The man's clothing fit that of ninja group Naruto has never seen, though he only seen konoha ninja in his life so far. On his face was a breathing apparatus, which covered the lower half of his face. A two horned forehead protector is on his forehead, with four lines in a diagonal slant. His hand held a large, sharp, clawed, gauntlet on his left arm. There was a hole which came just under his palm, which had a chain coming out of it; each link had a circle with four sharp pointy blades on it. The chain circled around the two jounin, heading over to the other man's clawed gauntlet. He wore a camouflage suit with bandages around his waist, dark-colored, knee-length sandals and several pouches around his waist.

The other man matched him in height, his hair being straight instead of wild like his comrade. His dark eyes, stared out at his prey, ready to finish them off. Just like his companion, he had a breathing apparatus on, which covered the lower half of his face. Instead of having two horns on his forehead protector, he has only one large horn. A ragged cape covered his clothing, but his arm which was raised, showed that he had similar clothes on. His large claw gauntlet was on his right arm.

"Two down." They both muttered. They both tugged on their lines, ripping the two jounin apart.

"Kyaaaa!" Sakura shouted. Aya stood shocked, surprised they were taken out so easily. Sasuke began to draw some kunai, though he wouldn't have the chance to use it.

Naruto reacted first, heading for the ninja on his left. Though he was aiming for a one on one confrontation his course of action prompted the enemy's companion to attack as well.

Naruto could feel the air rustle around him, the sound of metal scraping against the ground. They were going to wrap him as well.

Fools.

Maya came down, aiming carefully; the girl impaled the chain into the ground, stopping its snake like action. She left the sword in the ground, heading for the other one.

Both mist ninja tried to yank it free, only to find the genin was much faster than expected. Simultaneously Maya and Naruto lashed out, the latter coming out with a round house kick and the former with an uppercut. The blonde's target seemed to take the heavier blow, nearly falling back. Maya's target head jerked up, his body following his sudden momentum.

They recovered fairly quickly, both flicking their hands, snapping their chain. The wild haired man twisted his body, swinging his clawed hand at Naruto, only for the blonde to successfully dodge it, spinning around his left hand. With deft precision, the boy struck the back of his left knee. The man nearly dropped to his knee, no longer having the balance secured. This left Naruto with the opportunity to continue his attack. Grabbing his shoulders, Naruto forced him to lean to the left and into his rising knee.

Naruto let out a low curse, his attack blocked by his opponent's arm. Knowing he was open, the blonde broke apart just as the ninja swung his arm. Realizing he would not get away unscathed Naruto lifted his arm to take the attack. He hissed as the warm steel sliced into his left forearm, blood immediately flying from it. Escaping back, Naruto drew a kunai before dashing at him once more.

This would be more exciting then he first thought.

While this was going on, Maya did a good job at holding the man back. She found herself unable to hit him hard enough to actually cause some substantial damage. Punching that breathing apparatus hurt.

She ducked under the claw, deciding to draw Naruto's katana, if she had to guess it was poisoned. Maya lashed out, cutting her opponent's cape. She noticed a blood on his blade. She had hit.

His eyes narrowed at the girl, finding her to be a little difficult than he figured. His eyes moved to Tazuna, the three genin around him, seemingly less experienced then the girl in front of him. Spinning around the girl, the ninja made a mad dash, closing in on Tazuna.

"Shit!" Maya let out, chasing after him.

Watching him come, Sasuke was the first to react, appearing in front of Tazuna. He took a step forward meeting the incoming adversary, noticing Aya coming up at his side, sword drawn. Though it seems that such an action was unneeded; Kakashi appeared just in front Maya who slid to a stop, surprised at his sudden appearance. The man, who escaped from her, was now in his left arm, his neck against Kakashi's bicep. He looked at Maya as she glared at him, disappointed he took out her opponent. "You guys did well." Kakashi said. "Especially you, Maya-chan."

Maya opened her mouth to reply to his praise, only for a loud painful sounding crack to rip out into the air, followed by a loud Hebi-sensei. Everyone turned, spotting the other adversity on the ground, with the purple haired jounin on his back. She had his arm in her hand, his bone now visible.

The two girls in team 7 cringed, the sight being a little too much for them. Maya on the other hand frowned, so Naruto lost his target as well. "Hebi-chan! I was going to take him out!" Naruto waved his arms around frantically, clearly upset at her interference. "It was just getting fun."

"You were taking too long Naru-chan. I couldn't wait." Anko said.

"It was barely a minute since I started." Naruto shouted. He failed to notice Anko's eyes on his arm which was leaking profusely.

Her eyes came to his face, wondering if he realized the fact. "You know you're bleeding right?"

Naruto stopped waving his arms frowning. "Yeah, so?"

"His gauntlet has poison on it." Anko said casually.

Naruto mouthed dropped a bit, a low o leaving his mouth. Then he was off, running around like a chicken that lost his head. "AHHHHHHHHHH! I'M POISONED! I'M GONNA DIE!" He screamed, his panicked voice hurting the ears of everyone in the immediate vicinity.

"Now, Naruto-kun calm down. The poison is going to spread faster that way." Kakashi said.

His calm suggestion didn't work too well.

"OH NO! IT'S SPREADING FASTER!" Naruto shouted, running a bit faster.

For a minute everyone stared watching as he ran like a madman, with no hope in the world. Maya shook out of her daze first, walking over to him. Without a word the girl grabbed his arm, pulling him as she bent over. He was flung over her, landing on his back. "Oofa"

With Naruto now on the ground, Maya leaned back up, before staring at the blonde. "Calm down you idiot. You'll spread the poison faster with that much movement."

Naruto sat up, his head turned to her. "B-b-but Maya-chan…." Naruto sobbed.

"No buts." Maya said, kneeling down. "Now let's see how…" She stared at his arm noticing a vertical slash mark going over the two diagonal slashes. She blinked before looking at him.

"I-is it bad?" He asked. Maya lashed out, smacking him upside his head.

"You idiot, you already released the poison from your body!" She exclaimed. Naruto grabbed his head, his mouth opened a bit.

"Oh yeah." He exclaimed happily. "I did do it a moment after I was cut. Wow I'm lucky"

Everyone head fell, except Anko who noticed it before the girl came over to "help". She found his reaction funny, but he had to know about it already. "Bandage him up…so he doesn't bleed to death." Anko ordered, picking the down man up, as she stood. Maya nodded, going in her pouch.

Kakashi turned, his eye glancing at his brunette ward as she passed him, moving towards Naruto. She was probably going to help with the bandages, from what he heard, Maya wasn't the best at it. He looked at Tazuna, his eye narrowed. "Tazuna-san." Kakashi called.

The old man jumped, staring at Kakashi. "What is it?" He asked his nervousness clear in his voice.

Kakashi turned away from him walking, towards Anko. "We need to talk."

The two jounin tied their captives to a tree, Anko making sure to mess with his arm. She grinned as he groaned painfully. Finish with their bindings, the purple haired woman rubbed her hands together, before lashing out, striking each one across the face. With a groan both of them opened their eyes.

"So…Hidden mist chuunin?" Maya looked at Anko, obviously seeking answers from her.

"Yep, but you already knew that huh?" Anko stared at her suspiciously, wondering how much of her skills she didn't know about.

"But who are they?" Aya asked.

"The demon brothers." Kakashi answered. "These types of shinobi are known to continue fighting no matter what."

"…How did you read our movements?" The wild hair ninja asked.

"Were you trying to hide?" Maya asked confused, before anyone could speak. "I sensed y.." Naruto punched her arm, stopping her cold, as everyone looked at her. She stared at him, rubbing her arm as Naruto smiled, taking a step forward.

"What she means to say, is that it's a sunny day and it hasn't rained in a while. It was easy to see that it was a trap."

"See?...You're eyes are covered, how did you…"

"YOU'RE MOM THAT'S HOW!" Naruto exclaimed, interrupted him. He panted heavily standing tense at the ninja. How dare he ask him questions.

Anko grabbed him and pulled the blonde's face to her chest. "Sorry about him. He's still upset he lost that bout." Anko said. Ignoring the fact that his head was in her bosom, the boy tilted his head up.

"I didn't lose. You interfered." Naruto whinned

"You took the most hits." Anko said. "And got poisoned."

"That was..Mawahgh" He was once again pressed into her chest, cutting off his sentence.

"Anyway. That's how we knew you were there."

Kakashi nodded in agreement with her. Tazuna on the other hand looked at them suspiciously.

"Then why did you allow the brats to fight?"

Anko felt Naruto try to break away but she stopped that by placing her hand on his head.

"If I wanted to I could have killed both of them in an instant. However," Kakashi explained before looking at the older man, "We needed to know who these two were after."

Tazuna stared, not sure what he was getting at. "What do you mean?"

"In other words," Anko spoke, ignoring the waving hands of the boy in her chest. "Were you being targeted or was it somebody from our group." Anko glared at the man, "We were not informed that there would be shinobis after you."

"Um…Sensei." Maya called, thinking the boy was being suffocated. She was promptly ignored.

"Our mission is to protect you from thieves and gangs," Kakashi added, drawing his attention back to him. "This is a mission has just become B rank." The man missed how Maya and blonde perked up. "Our job was to guard you until you completed the bridge."

"Sensei" Maya called again.

"Sssh" Anko let out, her eyes never leaving Tazuna. Maya shrugged, she would get something interesting soon.

Tazuna stayed silent, his eyes looking at the ground. "If ninjas are our enemies then it would be an expensive B-rank mission. I'm sure you have your reasons, but it causes problems when you lie about the mission. We are now operating out of the boundaries of our mission." Kakashi finished. Tazuna remained quiet after hearing what Kakashi were saying.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura spoke, "We aren't ready for this mission. Let's quit. We'll need medicine for Naruto's wound. We should head back and take him to the doctor."

Kakashi hummed his eyes going to Anko. He opened his mouth to ask her something, but stopped seeing her eyes widen like saucers. Her cheeks lit up, her eyes looking down, anger blazing in her brown orbs. Her right arm, which held Naruto's head to her, left him raising up high. A second later her fist came down fast, aiming to put the blonde in the ground.

She missed the blonde, the boy escaping with a quick burst of speed. Naruto slid to a stop, ending up by Sasuke, inhaling deeply. "Oh my god" He huffed. "I thought I was gonna die."

"You will when I get my hands on you!" Anko angry shout was accompanied by a raised arm shaking with righteous fury.

"I was suffocating!" Naruto shouted back. "That and your nice, round behind was tempting me." This only caused her mouth to twitch, she was going to explode. "Anyway. Don't use me as an excuse to back out of this." As he said that, blonde pointed at Sakura.

"What are you talking about!?" Sakura shouted. "We aren't ready for this."

"Fuck that! I've been waiting a fucking month for a mission. And then I found out I have to protect him!" Naruto pointed at Tazuna, which he believed was the source of his misfortune. "I said no but I was still forced to come. This has just gotten interesting so even if all of you leave I'm continuing this mission!" After he finished that sentence Anko's fist came down on him, slamming him into the dirt.

"Arg!" the boy let out, his face hitting the ground.

Aya's eyes went wide at the woman's use of violence. "AH! Naruto!" She moved to stop her but Maya was faster, grabbing her shoulders and turning her to Kakashi.

"Trust me you're not going to be able to stop this." Maya turned her gaze to the one eyed man taking a deep breath. "Since Anko-sensei is busy, I'll speak on her behalf." Looking at Tazuna and then the chuunin that were tied up, the girl hummed. Her eyes came back to Kakashi thinking about everything that had happened.

"Normally it would be against regulation to actually continue this, not to mention irresponsible." Maya looked at Tazuna. "Since he already lied once it would be foolish to assume that he wouldn't lie again."

"So, you think we should return as well?" Kakashi said.

Maya hummed, shaking her head. "I don't think so, at least not in this case." This perked everyone up, especially Tazuna.

"But Naruto's injured…. and we aren't prepared to for this." Sakura pleaded.

Maya looked at her frowning at her cowardice. "Naruto will be fine and what better way to get prepared then to experience it. There will always be missions where one has been misinformed. It is our duty to adapt to such situations." Maya looked back at Kakashi, noticing the man was nodding. "Besides that, I find both you and Anko-sensei to be capable jounin. I believe you can take care of anything that comes that we cannot handle."

Kakashi nodded at her explanation, slightly elated at her praise. For training his students this would be valuable. He was completely right about this girl, he was sure she would go far.

"Nicely said….but too wordy."

Everyone turned to Anko who was now standing, not even two feet away from them. "I see you are done beating on Naruto." Maya observed, with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah….I stopped early to hear what you would say." Anko said shrugging. "But I agree. We aren't leaving this alone. After all, I'm finding interesting things every few minutes."

Maya glanced at Naruto who, was sitting up, looking amazingly unharmed. He did have a twitch in his mouth though. She watched her friend stand up, wiping the dirt off his clothing. Her eyes came back to her sensei as she crossed her arms. She looked at Kakashi, who seemed to still be deliberating it. "If anything, we can escort him back while you are thinking. If you find it to be unreasonable we can depart after getting him home." She looked at Tazuna, eyeing him. "And I get the feeling that the reason he posed the mission like this was because he didn't have the money."

"Even better." Anko said. "Shall we get going?"

Kakashi had nothing to say to refute it, so he nodded it this mission goes wrong they will come back. But he will have to probe Tazuna for information later on. "Alright. Let's continue on."

"We'll catch up with you." Anko said, grabbing Maya's shoulder before she could move. Kashashi looked at her before nodding understanding her motive.

Tazuna and team 7 began to travel on, only two glances from Aya and strangely Sasuke. After a few minutes they were far enough away from the three had to strain their eyes to see them, though they didn't try.

With that, the purple haired turned to her two captives. "So, how would you two like to do this the easy way and tell us who you're working with?"

They chuckled darkly, the one with the broken arm staring her in her eyes. "How about you suck my dick?"

"Heh! Yours a…"

Her hair swayed roughly, something passing by her fairly quickly. She caught sight of blonde before the sound of flesh smashing into something hard. Her eyes widen at the sudden moment.

The man who spoke stared at the blind blonde, his fist only a few centimeters away from his eye, against the hard cracked wood of the tree. The boy's was growling lowly, his canines showing. "Watch what you say or the broken arm won't be the only thing unusable." Naruto growled.

Before anything else can be said, the boy was pulled back by his silver haired companion. "Naruto relax." Maya whispered in his ear. He only gave a nod, missing her curious stare.

"Um…yeah." Anko said, sweating a bit. That was somewhat unexpected. "How would you two like a firsthand course in the art of interrogation and torture?" She stared at her two wards waiting for their answer.

This brought both of their eyes to the snake ninja. "Um…Interrogation?" Naruto asked. Anko nodded, grinning mischievously.

Maya looked from her to the chuunin. "Do we have time?"

"Of course. There is always time for interrogation. All that matters is at what speed you get the info." Anko said. "And this will be a quick lesson; on other missions I will teach you a lot more."

Maya shrugged, deciding to just go for it. "Ok. I'm up for it."

"Um…ok." Naruto agreed, nervously. Anko's grin nearly split her face.

It was nearly ten minutes since the team left Anko's and Aya was the only one who seemed to worry about what was going on. Her eyes shifted to her teacher, who was walking slightly ahead of her.

"Kakashi-sensei, that woman…. Mitarashi-san. What does she plan to do?"

Kakashi looked at her, "Well she's going to interrogate them."

"Interrogate them?" Sakura asked. "Is she a pro at it?"

Kakashi fixed his bag a bit, looking at Sakura. "Somewhat. She's not the best, but she's pretty high up there. She sometimes fills in for our interrogation/torture specialist back in Konoha, though a bit bloodthirsty."

"Do you think that will interfere in her duties as their teacher?" Aya asked. Kakashi blinked, was she worried about her cousin?

"No it won't, I think she will do fine."

"How far will we go without them?" Sakura asked.

"Well….we'll stop in a little bit. We'll make sure not to go so far." Kakashi said. With that said, the group continued on, once again becoming silent. It took a few minutes for Sasuke to look at Aya, his curiosity peeked.

"Aya….Maya-san strength lies within her sword right?" Sasuke asked. Aya looked at him blinking, this was like the fourth or fifth time he spoke today.

"Um….She's more balanced than anything…Why do you ask?" Aya said, curious about his motives. His hands found their way into his pockets, his eyes staring forward. After a moment Aya realized she wouldn't be getting an answer from him.

"Naruto-san is balanced as well?" Kakashi chimed in. Aya looked at her teacher, wondering what everyone's fascination with the other team was.

"Yeah…for the most part. But if I had to say he's more versed in kenjutsu." Aya replied, her mind going over all the times she saw him fight.

"And he's familiar with your clan's abilities and skills?" Kakashi continued. It seems he wanted to know just how strong the boy was.

"Well…um. Somewhat." Aya nervously rubbed her arm, wondering if she should say much more.

"Really?" Sakura interjected, "I thought your clan was supposed…" She stopped, Aya's eyes glazed, the girl watching her. "Uh….Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Aya muttered.

After what seemed like hours, Anko walked up with her arms behind her head. The jacket was open slightly but her breast still remained mostly covered. Everyone noticed instantly the absence of her two charges.

"Yo." Kakashi greeted. "Where's your team?"

"Oh, they're washing off. It kinda got bloody." Anko answered, frowning.

"Got any good information?" He asked. Anko shook her head, letting her arms drop seconds later.

"I managed to get out that they are working with the demon of the mist." Anko said. "But then Naru-chan broke his jaw."

This brought a curious stare for Kakashi. "I'm guessing he didn't take to interrogation too well."

"Nope. He took to it like a moth to a flame." Anko said. "He just needs to control himself better."

Kakashi nodded, wondering about her other student. "And how did Maya-san take to it?"

Anko leaned up against the tree with a slight frown. "She didn't want to watch after a few minutes."

"That's not too surprising." Kakashi muttered.

"It is a little." Anko said. "Considering her past and her interaction with Naru-chan…I figured she was a sadist."

"She's not a sadist." Aya chimed it. Both jounin looked at her. Anko smiled, so she defends her cousin also.

"I wonder about that." Anko looked up, thinking about the last month. "Naru-chan has groped her a little over a hundred times during training, which deserves a beating." At her recount of the number of times she's been fondled, everyone's head nearly dropped, well except for Aya who heard this already. "Other than that, she's challenges him to fights to where she dishes out some good amount of damage to him. She always has this 'satisfied' smile on her face afterward."

Aya stared, not really able to counter that. She had wondered a little bit herself, but never asked about it. "That's because they are rivals and she likes to win." Aya defended.

Anko laughed, "A little too much."

"They are rivals?" Sakura interjected before anything else could be said. All three of them looked at her, Aya nodding her head.

"It's what their relationship has been based on since they met." Aya said.

"How did they meet anyway?" Sakura asked. The brunette opened her mouth to answer, only to stop, with the two voices of the missing genin reached her ears.

"I'm telling you Maya-chan, it's going to be awesome when this jounin shows up. With a nickname like the demon of the mist, he is sure to put up a nice challenge." Everyone turned their heads, looking down the path Anko came from, seeing the two walking leisurely toward them.

"Naruto, we aren't going to fight him. Anko-sensei or Kakashi-san will handle him." Maya said.

"I'm pretty sure I can convince Hebi-chan to give me a shot at him." Naruto threw his fist up, throwing a few jabs ahead of him.

Maya rolled her eyes; he was getting excited for nothing. "Naruto, we barely beat Anko-sensei and she wasn't trying to kill us. How do you expect to handle this guy?"

"With my brains and dazzling skills." Naruto gloated. Then they stopped, finally being in the presence of everyone. Aya quickly noticed, how clean they were, the bandage around Naruto's arm missing. His wounds already healed up. It was something she was envious of.

His head turned to her and in seconds his arms were around her. "Did you see that Aya-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, surprising her by his sudden action. "I was so great, that chuunin didn't stand a chance." While he spoke, he moved her around, sending her into a waltz like dance.

"Whoa!" Aya let out, getting spun around. His arms left her, his body turning. She rotated a few more times before she stopped herself, watching as Naruto punched the air once again.

"I was like bam!" the blonde exclaimed, kneeing the air.

"And he blocked that one." Anko pointed out. "And delivered a nice slash to your arm." She looked at his arm, the wound that should be there missing.

"Hey," Naruto let out, turning to the woman. "He got lucky." Naruto turned back to Aya, ready to continue their dance.

Too bad Maya didn't think it was appropriate. She held her long sword out between them, stopping her friend without a word. "Enough dancing." She said. Naruto turned his head to her, grinning knowingly.

Aw, she was jealous.

Aya gave her a slightly glare, it was kind of nice. "Now….are we continuing on?" Maya asked.

Kakashi nodded. "We have a few more hours of light. We should make the best use of it."

With that, the group was once again on their way. The journey from this point on was pretty uneventful, the occasional bricking between Naruto and Maya being the highly of entertainment. But as fun as it was, soon the group had to stop, the light of the sun no longer illuminating their path.

The moon replaced the sun as the group stopped at a small clearing. Trees and bushes gave the area a little shroud, making it as good of place as any to rest at. "This place is good." Anko said stretching her arms out. Kakashi nodded as well, watching as everyone walked out.

Tazuna took a place on the right of the clearing, being too close to the trees. Sasuke merely walked over to the left of Tazuna, resting his bag a meter away from the center of the clearing. Sakura wasn't too far off from him, which wasn't too surprising.

Naruto moved to the other side of Kakashi, leaning up against a tree. Maya and Aya gravitated toward him, Maya as a buffer in case Naruto tried anything, and Aya for company if anything.

As everyone with bags, began placing the on the ground, ready to go through them for any rations they brought, Naruto stepped forward, heading for Tazuna. "Hey, old man." Naruto called, stopping a few feet from him. Tazuna jumped, the incident that happened earlier still fresh on his mind. His eyes came to the boy, slightly wary of him

"What is it?" He answered, standing straight.

Naruto pointed at the man, a smile on his face. "Since I've decided to protect you, I need to know exactly who would hire ninja to kill you." Tazuna blinked, was this kid serious? "Come on, come on. I don't have all the time in the world." His impatience was greeted with a hand around his shoulders. He turned his head, his body being leaned to his right.

"Naruto, you can't rush things like this." Oh so it was Maya-chan. "You have to be smooth. He's probably still nervous about you from earlier."

"So what should I do?" Naruto whispered back.

"Ok, I'll tell you what to say."

Naruto nodded, clearing his throat. "Alright, start off with saying, that under these circumstances, in order for us to safeguard you with the best of our capabilities, we will need all information that you possess." Maya whispered, her soft breath causing her friend to shiver.

Naruto began to open his mouth to repeat such lines, when he was pulled over to his left, a puff of breath alerting him to someone else being by his ear.

"No, no, no. That's too easy to reject. You got to be forceful. Now repeat after me. Bitch! What aren't you telling us!?" This one was Anko.

"That'll never get him to talk." Maya retorted, glaring at the purple haired woman. Again his silver haired companion pulled him over, her lips next to his ear. "Naruto, say "This information will grant us enough time to prepare ways to protect you."

"Ha!" Anko laughed, looking at the girl with a mischievous grin. "Like that will work. He lied once, he might lie again." She pulled Naruto back over, almost taking him off his feet. "Say, I'll beat you into a bloody fucking pulp and stick my sword up your ass, if you don't tell us everything now!"

Naruto cheeks puffed out, it was like he had an angel and devil whispering in his ears. Bad thing about it was they were doing a horrible job at keeping it low. He sent out a few pulses of chakra and from what he was receiving; he could tell everyone heard them.

"Um, Tazuna-san, they are right." Aya said, stepping in. "If we are to get you safely home, we should know exactly who is targeting you. It will allow us to access the resources that might be used to kill you."

Everyone stared at Aya, surprised she stepped in like that. "Nicely said, Aya!" Maya said giving her a thumb up. Sweating just a bit, Tazuna pulled his hat down.

"The man, who is after me, is a super dangerous guy." Tazuna said. Naruto nearly leapt forward with excitement.

Super dangerous? Oh yeah there was gonna be some action.

"Super dangerous?" Kakashi repeated. He briefly noticed this put his pink haired student on edge.

"You properly heard his name before." Tazuna continued.

"Who?" A chorus of team Anko, Kakashi, and Aya rang out. It seems everyone was a little bit anxious.

"The wealthy shipping magnate." Tazuna said shifting. "A man named Gatou." Kakashi and Anko's eyes widen, not expecting such.

"Wait what?" Naruto let out first, his body slightly tense. "When you say Gatou, you mean as in Gatou from Gatou Shipping Corporation, the man rumored to be one of the world's richest men?" This drew everyone's eyes to him. "The short, fat man, who wears sunglasses for no reason and has his hair spiked a bit, and wears a suit?"

Now everyone stared at him, slightly unnerved that he knew that. "Naruto….How do you know of him?" Maya asked.

Naruto turned his head to her, opening his mouth a little. He closed it a second later thinking of what to say. "I came across an ad of his in a porn mag a few days ago." Naruto answered. Too bad everyone knows he wouldn't be a porn mag.

"Y-You described him perfectly." Tazuna said, eyeing the boy. Maybe he wasn't as stupid as he thought.

"I don't understand." Sakura said, rubbing her chin. "Why would he send ninja to kill you?"

"Well for starters, his occupation." Naruto said.

"What do you mean?" Maya said, giving the boy a little space. "He's only runs a large shipping company right?"

Tazuna opened his mouth to speak once more, but Naruto beat him to it.

"No." Naruto muttered. "In front of everyone's eyes, yeah he has a large shipping company. But that's only a way to explain how he's got so much money." Naruto rubbed his head. "But the man is as corrupt as they come. He makes quite a lot of his vast fortune from his dealing in the underworld."

"So you're saying he sells drugs and illegal items?" Sasuke said, quite intrigued by all this.

"Yeah." Naruto answered absentmindedly. "He also uses ninja, ronin, gangs, bandits, really anybody who can be swayed with a few bucks to muscle in and take over businesses." Naruto turned his head to Tazuna a frown on his face. "And it's easy to tell why you lied about this mission now."

Humming, Maya looked at Tazuna. "If everything Naruto just said is true, it could be assumed that he has taken over the shipping industry and that would put strain on the economy, especially to a place that relies heavily on water based transport. If all this is true then the man would have little to fear."

Sakura eyes lit up, "Except the completion of the bridge."

"Yeah, the bridge would decrease the reliance on the water shipping, thus reducing his hold on everything." Naruto said

Tazuna stared at the boy, a few question coming to his mind. "Have you been to wave…this past year?"

"Nope." Naruto replied simply. "Seeing as your country is now "super" poor, you could not even hope to afford a b-rank mission, let alone an A-ranked one to simply assassinate the man." This again brought everyone eyes to Naruto.

Tazuna eyes went to each of the ninja, before landing on Kakashi, who he believed was the leader. "Well… if you quit the mission…I will definitely be killed." He said, drawing everyone's attention to him. "But…don't worry about it! If I die my cute 10 year old grandson will just cry for a few days. Oh yeah and my daughter will live sad hating the leaf village forever." Tazuna exclaimed, in a mock uncaring mattered. Everyone in team 7 stared at him blankly, unbelieving of that he used such a tactic. Maya joined them on with such a look.

Anko on the other hand merely stared at him. Naruto scratched his head, turning around. "Pathetic." He muttered, walking back over to his original spot. He turned around and leaned against it, crossing is arms. He ignored all else, his mind being focusing on the situation he found himself in. At least he now knew why this man looked familiar. Truth be told, this was not something he was expecting so soon…and there are a few differences. Oh well, how to handle this now.

Now if everything flowed like he knew it would then, this demon of the mist is a swordsman, a strong one. His water jutsu should be easy to deal with, but if Kakashi gets captured things will go haywire. But if he didn't, the blonde wouldn't have the chance to fight the man. What to do? What to do?

Because of Naruto current state, he didn't notice, Maya calling him. He also didn't notice Anko walk up to him. Her hands, which were actually quite soft, grabbed his cheeks, pulling them. Odd thing was he didn't notice this at all.

"Sensei, I think you should stop." Maya advised.

Anko turned her gaze to her other student, "I would if he wasn't ignoring me!" She did not like being ignored.

"He's not ignoring you…He's just deep in thought. He does this every once in a while." Aya said, trying to defend her friend.

Anko pinched his cheeks harder, looking over at the girl. "That doesn't matter! When I call, he is to answer. That's the rule of this whole student teacher thing."

"I don't think that's how it works." Kakashi said, rubbing his head.

Anko's narrows eyes turned to the man, "Stay out of this one eye!" If she had a hand free, she would have shook her it threateningly Kakashi immediately back off, his hands raised nervously.

Maya stared, knowing Naruto's habit would soon kick in. "Sensei….I don't think you should continue this." Maya warned.

"And why shouldn't I?" She said releasing his cheeks. It wasn't working as well as she hoped.

"Because he'll throw you." Aya warned.

Anko looked at her, blinking. "Throw me?"

"Yeah…he got into a habit of throwing people who interrupt his thinking…in that manner." Maya said. Anko stared at her, disbelief on her face.

"Tch, Naru-chan can't throw me." Anko said, mocking the absurdity of it.

Maya stared, "He'll do it."

Anko continued to stare at her for a moment before her eyes moved to the blonde. She raised her fist up high, looking back at Maya. "Hey, my job is done." Maya raised her arms; as in a sign to say 'My hands are officially off this now.' Anko looked back at Naruto, aiming perfectly before bringing her fist down like a hammer.

A second later she was promptly thrown.

"Ofa!" Landing on her back, the woman stared, shocked.

"Damn it Maya-chan! Stop interrupting my thinking." Naruto shouted out, pointing at "Maya-chan"

Everyone stared at him for a moment shocked for two reasons. One he just threw a jounin and second because he just called his sensei Maya, which was a first, he never made such a mistake as to call anyone else Maya.

Maya grinned, not really caring about such a mistake, after all she was usually the one to do it, she just hardly ever got thrown. The older Natsume patted his head, drawing his attention to her. "It wasn't me Naruto."

Naruto paused for a moment, his mouth dropping. "If….I didn't throw you…." Naruto started, turning his head forward. "Who did…" A pulse later he found his answer. "Wow...I'm not sure how to react to this."

"What do you mean?" Aya asked, as the purple haired woman stood.

"Well….Usually I should display some amount of fear at the retribution that would ultimately come my way…but somehow I feel like she..." Naruto stopped, turning his head to Maya. "You did warn her right?"

Maya nodded, looking at her teacher. "Yep."

"Yeah…so she walked into it." Naruto hummed, crossing his arms. "Should I apologize?"

"Nah!" Anko let out. Naruto felt her arm wrap around his should, the woman's weight being pressed on him. "That was pretty good. I didn't think you would be able to successfully throw me shorty." Naruto pouted.

He wasn't short

"Now…about the question I had for you." She said, her beautiful eyes glimmering with mischief. "Where's your bag?" Naruto hummed, digging in his pouch.

"I sealed it into this scroll." Naruto replied, drawing out said item. Anko shook her head, she looked at Maya and Aya.

"I'm guessing it's the same for you two?" The jounin asked. They both nodded. "Do you have anything you need out of it?"

"Yeah." Aya answered.

"I think so." Naruto said.

"Then you should take what you need for the night out." Anko said, smiling widely.

"Allriiiiiiight.!" Naruto screamed being picked off the ground and thrown to the other side of the clearing. "Ofa!"

That'll teach him for throwing his incredible strong and sexy teacher.

Maya stared off at Naruto, the boy sliding down the tree. Her eyes came towards her sensei, narrowed into a glare. The girl was clearly vexed at her teacher's use of unnecessary violence. After all, she was warned four times, she only had herself to blame for being thrown. She looked back over at her friend, deciding to hold her tongue for now.

Maya spotted her cousin, who was at the blonde's side. With an extended hand, the brunette helped assisted Naruto in standing. From what she could see, the whiskered genin was completely unscathed, which was good, now she could focus on her taking out her stuff.

Maya looked through her purple bag, slightly frowning. She had enough clothes and weaponry, but her sleeping bag wasn't here. She thought her cousin might have packed it in a scroll and put it in but she didn't. Oh well. It's not like she could say anything now, Naruto would definitely find out how she got there so fast. And that was not something she would allow, not even if her life was at stake.

"Wow! You brought the tent?" Naruto exclaimed. Maya looked over to them watching Aya roll a scroll on the ground, both of their bags in front of them.

"Yep. I figured I can use it, in case of rain or for changing." Aya said her eyes boring into Naruto's metal plate.

"Ah! Don't worry." Naruto said, with a disarming smile. This only made her worry more. "This tent won't stop me from peeking." Aya's head dropped; of course he would say something like this. "But you know it wouldn't be tactically effective to use it now."

"I know..." Aya said, leaning over to the boy. "But…I don't really like bugs." Naruto nearly laughed, this is the first time he heard of it, although there have been signs. Like that time with Shino, funny.

"It's not funny." Aya said, embarrassment reaching her cheeks.

"It kind of is." Naruto muttered. "But it's alright. Everyone has something they don't like." The blonde leaned over to her ear cupping his mouth. "Keep this a secret, but I'm not really fond of males."

Aya snorted, pushing him lightly. "Shut up." She laughed. "Everyone knows that already."

"Well, Tazuna don't." Naruto corrected with a smile.

"I'm pretty sure he picked up on it by now." Aya said.

"I don't know. I've been really mellow today." Naruto said.

"That's because I threatened you." Maya said sitting by his side.

"Yeah that too." Naruto said, scratching his head.

"Why did you do that?" Aya asked. Maya gave her a knowing look, pressing her hand on the scroll.

"Because he wouldn't have come along if I didn't." Maya answered. Channeling chakra into the scroll, the girl watched as a large plume of smoke exploded outward, drawing everyone's attention. As the smoke faded, a large, forest camouflaged, family sized tent was publicized. It was wide enough to hold the whole group.

"That's huge!" Sakura let out, surprised at the size of it. It must have cost quite a bit. Naruto tilted his head back, grinning.

"Yep, it is." Naruto said.

"Aya-chan." Kakashi said walking up. He noticed Naruto fidget, his hand reaching for his sword. He stopped, paying close attention to the boy. "I don't think you will need that tent tonight."

The Natsume cousins looked back at him frowning. "I'll have to disagree with you there." Maya said.

"Hm?" Kakashi let out.

Naruto grinned, ready to hear Maya's expert reasoning. "For one, I'm not sure of anybody's except Aya's and Naruto's sleeping habits. So I don't know what any of you will do once we fall asleep." Maya explained. "No offense but I've heard you read the book known as Ichi Ichi paradise and because of that you have been labeled as a pervert. And we deal with the antics of one pervert on a daily basis to know what one would do."

"Hey!" Naruto let out, clearly offended by her statement.

"Now this tent is perfectly stable for any interaction. There is no weapon that could pierce it; it renders all ninja chakra insensible to outside ninja." Maya explained, ignoring her friend. "Not even the famed Byakugan can see through it. And this was tested, numerous times."

"By?" Anko asked, this tent was sounding really wonderful.

"Hinata Hyuga." Aya answered. Both jounin nodded, knowing the girls named, mainly because of the blonde hair fellow in-between the two girls.

Though no one seemed to notice the sudden jerk from the boy, if they did, they paid it no mind.

"Not to mention, there is an array of seals placed on it." Maya added.

"What kind of seals?" Kakashi asked; his interest peeked. He knew a few seals himself and would not drop a chance to learn more

"There is an alarm seal on it, anyone with the direct intent to kill or destroy this, will alert those inside. The second seal is a protection seal, one that has a very unique effect of reflecting any ninjutsu back at its user." Maya explained, her prideful feeling showing on her face. "From what I know, there are two more seals on it but I don't know about them."

"Why not?" Sakura asked.

"Because Naruto won't tell me." Maya said.

Now everyone needed a moment to absorb what she said. And when they did, they all looked at Naruto, complete disbelief showing on their faces. "Naru-chan made the seals?" Anko asked, skeptic of the boy. All three of them nodded and Anko stared for a minute. After that minute passed she shrugged, remembering a few times his seals had saved him, especially that one on his apartment.

It was at this time, that the Uchiha of the group graced everyone with his expert opinion about this subject. "They probably don't work." Sasuke voiced out. After all seals are a very intricate, taking years upon years of study to master to such a degree to be used as such. If he hasn't done it then there is no way in hell, Naruto, a nobody who barely skated through the classes could. It was just an improbability.

Nobody missed the dark, twisted smirk that came across Naruto's face. "Then try using your grand fireball jutsu on it." Naruto said. "It would sure put my epic seals to the test."

"Only an idiot would do such a thing." Sasuke said, shaking his head at the boy's stupidity. "Especially in our current situation."

Everyone found that it was the correct thing to assume. They knew of the terrain but it would not help if their enemies knew of their location. Too bad the blonde didn't see it like that at all.

"That sounds like you're too much of a pussy to test it out." Naruto said standing. Sasuke's eye twitched, a tick appearing on his forehead. How dare this idiot insult him? "But since you don't want to, I'll show you."

"Whoa, wait!"

Maya's shout came too late, the blonde swordsman drawing his blade and swinging it with neck breaking speed. After what the jounin counted as ten slashes, the boy sheathed his katana, a haughty grin on his face. Everyone could see the tent, glowing with a blue seal that covered all of it. A moment later it disappeared. "This is the protection seal. As Maya-chan stated this will stop all objects from piercing through it and reflect any type of ninjutsu back at its sender. What she forgot to mention is that physical attacks strengthen the material of the tent as well as the seal."

Naruto picked up a rock tossing it up in the air. "Secondly." Naruto stated before tossing the rock. Everyone watched the jagged rock, hit the tent, activating the seal once more but this time with a red glow. "It doesn't just work…." Naruto ended his sentence tilting his head to the side. The rock passed him in the next instant, brushing his hair back on passing.

Sasuke ducked, just barely dodging the rock. His eyes, as well as the other's eyes watched the rock penetrate a tree almost as well as a certain jounin's lightning jutsu. "…on ninjutsu, it works on any type of projectiles. But there is a small waiting interval before the attack rebounds. For ninjutsu, it is absorbed before being shot out. All in all I would have to say the interval is about 2 seconds." Naruto turned to Sasuke, his prideful grin changing to an arrogant smile. "So, teme. Whose seals don't work?" He asked, his voice dripping with conceit.

The Uchiha merely stared at the boy, wondering if that rock was aimed at him on purpose. He was about to remark on the seals once again, only for his sensei to jump in. "That is pretty well done. You must have worked hard on them." Kakashi said. "But what about earth jutsu which could pull the tent underground and water jutsu's which could sweep and flood the area?" Kakashi was fairly interesting in this. Maybe he would be able to teach him just how he pulled these off or at least point him to the person who helped.

Naruto hummed, wondering if he should answer. He came to agreement with himself, thinking it wouldn't really be that much of a problem. "That's what the other two seals are for, one specifically for each occasion. But I want to leave that as a surprise."

"A surprise?" Anko asked.

"Yep. I want to see if Aya-chan or Maya-chan learn an earth jutsu just to test it out." Naruto laughed, the two girls shaking their heads.

"Anyway." Maya said, taking back the conversation. "The most important reason for this tent is that it's Naruto proof."

This one sentence made the other two kunoichi perk up. "Naru-chan proof?" Anko asked, her eyes gleaming expectantly.

"Yep. Once its closed he can't get in unless we say so, he can't see inside nor can he rip a hole in the tent." Maya said her hand up in a lecture like pose.

Aya smiled, pointing at her friend. "So no peeping for him."

"Heh! Funny. How do you think you can stop me from peeping if I'm inside!?" Naruto asked, evil laughter following after.

"Who said you're sleeping inside?" Maya asked.

Naruto gave a proud smile, his head tilting a bit. "Come on, Maya-chan. You wouldn't want me sleeping out here, in the cold."

"It's not cold." Tazuna said.

"Shut up, Tazuna." Naruto said, casually.

"Why you…" Tazuna held his tongue, remembering just who he was speaking too.

"Hm…I don't know. You don't get cold often." Maya said. Naruto grinned, ready to retaliation with the ultimate perverted comeback. But he stopped, figuring he could wait until another time to say it. His grin disappeared, the boy changing direction.

"On a better note. I'm going to get some fire wood." And thus Naruto walked off. Maya and Aya stared after him, wondering if he just given up.

Naruto hummed to himself, his arms crossed. His mind was on one thing, the encounter with the jounin. He wanted take a crack at the jounin, for more than one reason but to in danger his teammates to do it was not something he was up for. But then again, a lot of information about it was fairly sketchy.

Again the blonde felt like he should just wait until it happens and worry about it then. It would be more interesting that way. With a grin the boy sent out a pulse of chakra deciding to get back on his task.

A few minutes passed and the blonde happened to acquire an arm full of branches that just so happened to be on the ground. "Here you are." Naruto turned his head, recognizing the voice to belong to the brunette of the group. He sent out a pulse of chakra, and noticed she was carrying a few canteens, enough for the entire group.

"They have you getting water for them?"

Aya nodded, walking closer to him. "Yeah, also Anko-sensei wanted me to check up on you."

"Hebi-chan? What for?" He asked. Aya shrugged, not completely sure herself. "Alright." The blonde put down his bundle of sticks, deciding not to do the manual labor of hauling them around. "I'm pretty sure they just pointed the way. So, I'll show you to the river we found."

Aya nodded, smiling brightly. "That would be greatly appreciated."

"Oh? Is it appreciated enough for a kiss?" Naruto tapped his cheek, leaning towards her. Aya blushed, his question leaving her speechless. The blonde could only grin, waving her forward. "Let's get going."

Naruto lead her out, Aya walking at his side. "So, Aya-chan how is your team treating you?"

"They are alright. Sasuke is quiet most of the time and I get along with Sakura alright." Aya smiled, most of it being the truth.

Naruto tilted his head, surprised. "Really? I figure Sakura-chan would be hard to get along with. You know with the constant idea that you might be going after teme-chan and then there is me and my actions all throughout the academy."

Aya jerked a little; he hit the nail right the head.

"But I'm happy you could make friends with her. Maybe Sasuke will come around at some point" Naruto lifted his arms up, moving his hands behind his head.

Aya stared at him, a small smile coming on her face.

Naruto's arms drops, his head turning to her. "Not to say that matters. I'm the only guy you need in your life." And with that, the low level ninja started flexing, showing off his physique.

Aya giggled, "I'm pretty sure you would say that to every girl."

Naruto nodded vigorously, smiling. "That's because it's true. The only guy any woman would need is me."

"What about their father?"

Naruto's mouth puckered, his arms crossing. "Aya-chan you know what I mean."

Aya giggled once more, shifting her arms a bit. After a moment she stopped, deciding to ask a question. "What about your team?" Naruto turned his head to her nodding.

"They are fine. We have good dynamics." Naruto nodded grinning.

Aya frowned, "But don't you think your sensei is a little too….violent?"

"No. She was a lot worst when we first started hanging out. Now she's just a huge cock tease." Naruto said.

Aya stared at him for a second a blush on her face. "C-cock tease?"

"Oh yeah. A lot of the things she does, she does for a reaction. Like three months ago, I was helping her with training for her to become a jounin." Aya stared at him, befuddled as to why somebody would get an academy student to help them out. "Yeah, I know right. It's insane, but we both know I am trained well enough to give anybody a run for their money."

Naruto took a deep breath, focusing on recounting the painted memory in his head. "Anyway, we did a little training in her stealth skills and using her second element. By the way, she was horrible at the time. But after that, she wanted to relax. So she talked me into joining in a tea ceremony."

Again Aya gave him a strange look.

"Yeah, I found it interesting too. Anyway, she even decided to dress up in a kimono. While she was conducting this, she was playing around with her kimono, opening it and all that. I think she mention it was hot out or something. But it was like she was advertising her body to me."

Aya saw exactly where this was going and opened her mouth to stop it, but was stopped as he continued. "What made it worst was that she was looking at me with this sweet, alluring grin. Her succulent, swollen mounts, glistening with tea that accidently dripped from her lips."

"Naruto."

"Her blemish free, smooth skin, that I wouldn't mind eating sushi off of."

"Naruto" Aya called again, this time a bit louder.

"Wait forget Sushi, I wouldn't mind dipping her in a bowl of ramen, and taking a"

"NARUTO!"

Said blonde turned his head to his friend, the image of her blushing face coming to mind. "Oh…too detailed?" At her nod, Naruto gave a swift apology. "But yeah, when I groped her because of all the signs, she beat the living daylights out of me…then made me continue training with her. I think it's one of the few times I actually regretted my….no, I don't regret any time I groped someone." Naruto pumped his arm, grinning. "I found out afterward she did it on purpose just to snare me." Naruto shook his head, his teacher was evil. With a shrug he smiled. "Anyway, now they're more like love taps."

Aya nearly rolled her eyes. "Love taps?" "

"Yep. She's in love with this dragon master." He pointed both of his thumbs at himself. "She just has yet to realize it."

"Naruto…I highly doubt a…"

"24." Naruto pointed out.

"Ok. A 24 year old woman would have a romantic interest in a 12 year old." Aya said.

Naruto pouted, crossing his arms again. "You sound like Maya-chan."

"Sorry but it's true. You're 12 years her junior. I'm sure she has eyes for people her age." Naruto started sniffling, as if he was crying. "Naruto.."

"No, no it's alright." The blonde turned his head away, not wanting her to see the tears that would be trailing down his cheeks. "I know what you mean. Older girls just don't dig the young guys. They want older mature guys." Naruto sobbed, letting out an loud wail. "I'LL NEVER FIND LOVEEEEEEEE!"

Aya's mouth found the ground, trying to figure out how this happen. She hoped he was a good actor and that he wasn't serious, because she couldn't tell. "N-naruto-kun! I-I didn't say that!" She wanted to use her hands, but they still held the canteens to her abdomen. "I just said she probably wouldn't see you like that."

Naruto sobbed harder, "You don't need to rub it in!" The blonde dashed forward, trying to get away from her verbal abuse.

Aya ran after him, making sure to stay on his tail. "Naruto stop running!" Her shout went unheeded, the boy's wail drowning her out. She watched her friend run around in a scraggly pattern, slightly picking up dust as he ran.

She was so entranced with him that she failed to watch her footing, a root which rose just above the ground catching her foot. She fell, her body speeding to meet the ground. Closing her eyes tightly, the brunette waited for the impact.

"Whoa there." A arm wrapped around her, keeping her from her pain filled fate.

"Eh!" Aya looked up, spotting Naruto at her side.

Naruto smiled at her, moving her to her feet. "You have to be careful. We don't want you to hurt your beautiful body now do we?"

Aya let out a sigh, happy he caught her. She blinked realizing he was no longer wailing. "Um.. thank you."

"No problem." Naruto said. "Now come on. We're close to the river."

Aya blinked, nodding her head. Naruto walked ahead, the brunette following after him. He was right. They were close, very close. They barely walked a minute before the riverbank was in eyesight range and it took a minute more for them to reach it.

Naruto sat down beside the river, his friend joining him seconds later. He locked his chakra radar on the girl, the image of her opening each canteen and dipping them into the water, facing the incoming current. A smile appeared on his face, now was a good time to give her a present. He reached in his pouch, digging around. It took him a minute to find the case and he was glad that he did. He thought he lost it for a moment.

Naruto pulled it from his pouch, releasing a sigh. He held the case out; not realizing his friend's attention was drawn to him. "What's that?"

Turning his head to her, his smile changed to a grin. "It's a secret. Though, you can find out if you want."

Aya's eyebrow quirked, inquisitive, her curiosity peeked. "How do I find out?"

"Well" Naruto turned to her, his free hand on top of the small box. "First, I'll need you to close your eyes. Then hold out your hand."

Aya stared at him for a moment before complying with his demands. Placing the now filled canteen on the ground next to her, she turned to Naruto with her right hand out. She closed her eyes a second later waiting from what was to come.

A small click reached her ears, before a hard, jagged object was placed in her hand. She was about to open her eyes, but Naruto seemed to expect it. "Don't open your eyes until I tell you." Aya nodded, feeling his hand being placed on top of the object and her hand.

"What now?" Aya asked.

Naruto took a deep breath. "When I say so, I want you to channel your chakra into this object." S

Aya nodded, "Ok."

Like earlier the boy man a one handed tiger seal. He concentrated, pulling the chakra boiling chakra into his hand, which only took him a moment to do. "Alright. You can start."

As directed, Aya began to mold her chakra and channeling it into the object. She could feel the darker chakra coming from his hand. Her eyes twitched, wondering why she was feeling it. She fought the urge to open her eyes and continued to focus on the task at hand.

Their chakras mixed in the crystal for about a minute, the glowing of the crystal dulling as it became red. Naruto hummed as if sensing something wrong. He stopped feeding the darker chakra into the crystal and began channeling his own chakra into it. After another minute, the crystal stopped glowing, the color now completely blue, only a tint of purple at the very top and bottom.

Naruto let out a sigh, grinning with the completion of her present. "Alright, Aya-chan, you can stop now."

Aya exhaled, opening her eyes. She felt the object leave her hand seconds before her eyes came to it. She looked up at Naruto, to see a necklace dangling from his hand, the crystal gleaming with the glow from the moon above. Her eyes sparkled with excitement, wondering if it was hers.

Her answer came, with Naruto moved behind her, placing the necklace around her neck. "Wow." Aya let out. "It's beautiful."

Naruto fastened it, behind her and moved in front of her. Sending out a chakra pulse, the boy received a perfect image of her. "It looks nice on you"

Aya blushed at his complement. But something about it came to her mind. "What kind of seal is on it?"

Naruto smiled, she was intuitive as always. "There isn't a seal on it."

Aya's head tilted confused. "Then what was the purpose of charging it with chakra."

"Aya-chan!" Naruto cheered, clapping his hands. "Wonderful question. But it's a secret."

"Aw! Come on Naruto. Tell me."

Naruto had to stop himself from grabbing the girl. She was sooo damn cute. "Ah! I can't tell you now, later though. I have to finish the trinity."

Aya tilted her head, "Trinity?"

"Yep. Maya-chan has one, you do, and the final one goes to me." Naruto grinned rubbing his hands together. His should be done tonight.

Naruto missed the look that crossed her face and so he continued on. "And when I finish mine, the special effect should work."

"Special effect?" Aya certainly didn't like the way he said that.

"Fufufufu." Naruto rubbed his hand together, a mischievous grin on his face. "Yes. It will allow me to know whenever you girls are bathing! Bwahahahahahahahaha."

Aya stared at him blankly, something told her that this was a lie, but she couldn't say he wouldn't do something like it.

Naruto calmed down, smiling. "Just joking. Anyway, I want to make sure it works first before I tell you."

Aya nodded. She didn't understand why it was necessary for him to finish it before he could tell what it does but she just took it as a quirk of his.

"Hm?"

Aya blinked, wondering what was on his mind. "What is it?"

"I know I realized this earlier, but I just realized this again." A grin spread across his face. "We are completely alone."

"Eh?" Aya blushed, this one sentence bringing up some very interesting memories.

Naruto leaned forward stopping any reply she might have. "We can do anything.." a rock flew from the trees beside them, knocking the blonde on the head. The force was enough to nearly push him into the river beside them. But the boy prevented it with his hand.

Aya turned her head, spotting her cousin with her arm extended. She stared, wondering how long she was there.

"Damn it." Naruto hissed, grabbing his head. "What the hell was that for?!"

Maya stared, crossing her arms. "You were going to grope her, so I stopped you."

Naruto growled, turning his head to her. "So what if I was going to molest her. You don't apply violence to the occasion unless it happens."

Maya looked away, knowing he was right. "Ah, it doesn't matter. I know you well enough."

"Um…What are you doing here Maya?" Aya asked.

Maya looked at her, before walking closer. "Well, I heard Naruto scream, so I came to investigate." Aya flinched suddenly, before glancing at Naruto. "By the way, why did you scream?"

"I saw a skunk." Naruto answered.

Maya nodded, though she didn't believe him one bit. "Ok. Are you two done?"

Aya nodded, the last canteen being filled up more than five minute ago. Naruto shook his head, his fire wood being left in the woods. "Alright. Then we should go finish collecting the firewood."

"Booo! I want to stay away longer."

"You can't do that." Was all Maya said, as she moved closer, collecting her canteen. "Thank you."

Aya nodded, collecting all of the canteens. She stopped realizing Naruto didn't fill his up. "What about yours?"

"Oh, I keep ten on me at any given time. One being empty isn't much of a problem."

The two Natsumes stared wondering the same question. "Ten? Why ten?" The older of the two asked.

Naruto shrugged, "I figured it was a good number to have." With that the blonde stood hoping to get a move on.

Both girls looked at each other, wondering why he would think that. They looked at him as he began to head back towards the camp. Aya gathered the canteens quickly and stood. She followed after him, noticing Maya trailing just behind her. She had to wonder why her cousin was lagging behind but she paid no mind to it choosing to be by Naruto's side.

Naruto hummed a bit, turning his head back. "Hey Aya-chan, Maya-chan, do you two want to do something when we get back?"

Aya skipped a bit, obviously happy. "Oooh, what should we do?"

"We could go watch a movie. I heard, Sanjou and the golden blade were coming out soon."

"That sounds interesting. I did want to see it" Maya said, rubbing her chin.

"Awesome!" Aya cheered. Though she wanted to see a romance flick, that movie was promising to be good one.

Naruto nodded with a smile, the plan halfway set. "Ok, then how about we could chill at my place... or maybe your place since it's bigger. What do you think?"

Maya hummed thinking about it, she opened her mouth to answer but Aya beat her to the punch.

"Your place."

Maya let out a sigh, "Agreed."

Naruto chuckled, rubbing his hands. What exactly should he prepare for their date?

Maya stared at him, wondering why he was smiling like a mischievous brat. "What's with that look?"

Aya smiled, "He's just happy."

Maya pointed at his face, her eyes on her cousin. "That's not a happy look. It's more of a 'I got a prank planned' look.

Naruto attention was drawn back to them, his original purpose for being away from the group back on his mind. "Anyway. You two go ahead. I need to collect the firewood."

Maya shook her head, "I'll join you, it's better for two people to do it then one. It'll be faster."

Naruto tilted his head, before nodding. "Alright."

After a few more moments the three genin ended up at the tree Naruto dropped the branches at. Maya looked down at the bundle, figuring it wouldn't be enough for the whole night. But then again, they weren't trying to advertise their location, so it should be enough.

"Alrigth Aya-chan, see you back at camp." Naruto said. Maya turned her head to her remaining family and gave a little wave. Aya nodded before walking off, it shouldn't take her long to get back there. So maybe she'll be able to come back. A smile came upon her face, seemed like a pretty good plan to her.

After Aya was out of sight range Naruto turned to Maya, humming as she began looking around. "Soooo, what's up?"

Maya looked at him, blinking. "Uh….I'm looking around." Raising an eyebrow she wondered why he wasn't doing the same.

"Ah, I got that covered." Naruto made a t seal with the index and middle fingers of both hands and within seconds, four plumes of smoke rose from the ground. Four clones stood next to Naruto before they moved out, separating into the forest.

"Huh. Why didn't you do that at the beginning?"

"I didn't feel like it." Naruto said, digging in his pouch. He drew out a blue scroll and tossed it over to Maya. The girl blinked, surprised by the action but caught it with ease.

Maya raised it up, staring at it. "What's this?"

"It's my sleeping bag." Naruto stated. "You don't have yours, so you need one."

Maya looked away, chuckling nervously. "What are you talking about? I packed mine."

Naruto let out a low sigh, "No, Aya-chan packed your stuff. And she couldn't find your sleeping bag."

Maya looked back at him, blinking. When in the hell did he ask Aya about this? "I didn't ask Aya-chan about it. It was obvious what you had her do." Naruto moved over to the stack of branches. "And you should stop doing that it's not fair."

Maya rolled her eyes, deciding to put the scroll away. "Eh, she doesn't mind." She watched him pick up the wood, a frown on his face. "I bet you're still mad you lost."

"Nah, I got over that quickly. It's the try and cut your best friends head off thing that's the problem." Naruto turned to her, "But I'll deal with it."

Maya scratched her head. So that's why they were fighting. She watched him scoop up the wood before standing. In seconds the four clones that disappeared moments ago, appeared with firewood. "That was fast."

"Yep. No need to wait right?" Naruto smiled, his question up in the air.

Maya shrugged, "Not really." Her mind quickly came back to the sleeping bag, wondering why he packed two. "Why did you pack two?"

Naruto turned and began walking, causing Maya and his clones to follow. "I didn't."

Maya stared, "Then what will you sleep on?"

Naruto decided silence would be his answer. He really had no plans to go to sleep tonight. He didn't know Kakashi too well and he didn't trust Tazuna at all. Even with the tent, he wouldn't leave the girls unprotected. As his mind drifted slightly, he wondered what they were to eat. "Hey, what do you want to eat?"

Maya stared at him, closing her mouth. She was about to get him to answer the question, but he decided to move on. Oh well. "Fried fish, it shouldn't take us to long to catch some."

"Aw, but fish suck." Naruto whined. A smile appeared on his face, "How about ramen? I brought a few dozen"

Maya shook her head quickly, "No!" Seriously, why was he a ramen fiend? "Don't you think you eat enough ramen?"

Naruto almost looked horrified. "You can never and I mean never eat too much ramen."

Maya stared with a look of reproval, "Naruto, you eat too much ramen."

Naruto couldn't restrain himself, shouting, "Ah! My ears! Such blasphemy!"

A humph left her mouth, her hands on her hips. "Blasphemy my ass. You eat like what, ten bowls every day?"

Naruto decided not to answer that, so his clone did for him. "Nope, it's more like 20."

Naruto turned his head to the clone that spoke, "Hey! Don't tell her that!"

Maya looked from his clone to him, frowning. "20? Really? Naruto you need to eat healthier."

"Not this again." Naruto muttered. "Ramen is…"

Maya figured where he was going and decided to interrupt. "Don't even say that. Because you proved already that it isn't."

"I proved that it was. The gods sent ramen down for me to have. It must be healthy."

"The gods didn't make ramen. Ramen was made by man." Maya shook her head; she hoped they finished this little argument before they got back.

"Nah-uh." She was trying to fill his head with lies. "Men could never make anything so good. Only women." Naruto grinned, feeling he had won this.

Maya shook her head, "Look, it's not good for a growing boy to eat only ramen every day. It will stunt your growth."

Naruto's mouth opened, surprised at such a revelation. "A-are you saying I'll remain short forever?"

Maya stared, holding in a mischievous grin. "Yep. You'll remain small and I'll grow tall, with a luscious body." At that Maya slid her hands down her body for emphasis.

Naruto's mouth quivered, "Y-you'll still let me grope you right?"

Maya shook her head quickly, "No…Wait since when have I let you grope me?"

Naruto shifted the branches, one of them poking his arm. "You're so mean Maya-chan." He walked ahead, leaving a slightly confused genin behind him.

"Naruto! Answer me. Since when have I ever let you grope me?" Maya asked, giving chase.

It took only a few minutes for them to reach the camps, the clones walking in front of the two. Even though the blonde was hounded by his friend to answer the question, Naruto still managed to hear the surprise gasped ahead of him. His attention was brought forward, Tazuna's voice reaching his ears. "The blonde multiplied!"

A grin appeared upon his face, ah the effects of clones on civilians.

Sakura grinned, figuring this was some kind of ploy to trip him up. "Don't worry Tazuna-san. Those are fak.." Her eyes wide, hearing the four separate footsteps before the wood was dropped on the ground, next to a circle of rocks. "WHOA! They're real!"

"Of course we are!" The first of the clones replied. "Who would create illusions to carry wood?"

"Yep, yep. This makes me seriously question your intellect." Another of the clones came out.

The third clone smirked deciding to join in on this, "She's brood boys fan girl, so you can't really expect much from her already." Nobody missed how her face went red, a pulsing tick appearing on her large, adorable forehead.

Kakashi felt this was going to go bad soon, so he decided to speak up. "Um, Naruto-kun, would you mind dispelling your clones."

It was Naruto's fourth clone who spoke first. "Of course he would." He pointed at the man. "That would seriously decrease our groping power."

"Our groping power?" Naruto muttered.

Aya who had gotten there a few minutes ago blinked, he couldn't possibly be thinking what she thought he was. "Yes! With eight more hands, we can now grope five times the women!" This made Aya look away, disappointed in her friend. Sakura on the other hand crossed her arms over her chest, deciding it was a good enough protection from his grubby hands.

Naruto's face lit up taking in his clone's speech. The wood dropped from his hands and He turned his head to the moon, his arms spread apart as if praising the distance orb for such information. The world was so good to give him this.

Too bad there were only four females in the vicinity.

Maya elbowed Naruto, drawing the boy's attention to her. "Naruto stop conversing with yourself."

Naruto's mouth dropped, all of his clones turning to her before scratching their heads. "Question…If I'm talking to my clones would that really count as me talking to myself?"

Maya stared at him, the thought running through her mind. Would it?

Anko on the other hand decided to enlighten them with her infinite knowledge about things. "Yes, yes it would."

All five Naruto turned to her, "But how hebi-chaaaaan!"

At the chorus, the plum haired woman chuckled. "Because they are still ultimately you. Now get rid of them."

The four clones looked at their boss, before giving a thump up. Their knowledge has been given. Now it was all up to the original to abuse it. Naruto nodded, a nonexistence tear running down his cheek. He would never forget the information he learned today. With a seal, the clones dispersed into smoke, leaving the world with a smile. "Good bye my clones, *sniff* you will be missed."

Time passed by fairly quickly, the fire being set up and the group making their minds up on fried fish. This made the blonde genin slightly happy, the stash of ramen he brought being untouched.

The scent of the fish was still in the air, even though the food had been eaten a while ago. Everyone took the time to relax and talk, though the one mainly talking was Sakura. She seemed to want the object of her affections to talk to her. He was quite tight lipped.

Naruto would have laughed and took the time to bother her if he wasn't currently preoccupied, with more important business. He sat behind a tree, out of the direct eye sight of the group of ninja. A scroll lay open at his feet, holding an array of circles and symbols on it. An ink jar stood next to it, brush inside of it. Naruto held a book in his hand, the title of the hard cover read notes. Sure nobody was looking at him; the blonde had his forehead protector up, using his eyes to scan the contents of the book.

Turning the page, Naruto frowned. He couldn't really understand everything in this section. It was hard to put together, mainly because it was written very erratically. The whole book was like it, but this section seemed to be written more in codes then the others. He saw the symbol for fire and wind a lot but he wasn't sure if it was the actual meaning or if it was used for something else. It seems he would need the old man's help once again. And that means he has to put a hold on this seal.

Naruto's mouth twitched, "Damn it." Whoever wrote this sucked. He Naruto closed the book, deciding to check out another book the Hokage gave him. He put the book down, and picked up the other book which rested on his left. His eyes scanned the title before he opened the book up.

He read from the first page, finding a lot of the information he knew already. He skipped a few chapters where he read about the different application of seals and different seals to use for them. A grin appeared in his face, he knew how to finish the seal now. He reached over to the ink brush, deciding to do it now.

The sound of clothes reached his ears, alerting him to someone's approach. Naruto was fast, grabbing his forehead protector and bringing it down. He turned his head to the left sending out a pulse of chakra just in time to catch the person who tried to sneak up on him. The image of Maya entered his mind, a grin plastered on her face. "Nice try."

"Tch!" Maya glanced away, sucking her teeth at her failed attempt.

"You have been trying a lot this month." Naruto said.

Her eyes came back to him, taking a step around the tree. "It's a ok pass time." She shrugged and looked over at his little set up. "Making seals?" She asked.

"Yeah. I have two in mind as of now." Naruto's lips curled, the thoughts of what he would do crossing his mind.

Maya crouched down, her thighs almost pressed together. "What kind of seals?" She asked, studying the writing on the scroll.

A creepy chuckle escaped Naruto's mouth; his smile widened enough to see the front row of his teeth. "Well lovely, the seal I have in mind is one that will steal a woman's panties without her noticing."

Maya stared at him, blinking as he started to laugh. As odd as it was, if he could do that then it could possibly be used in other ways. Like stealing a scroll off somebody. But most likely he would use it only to be a pervert. Next thing she knew, her hand was upside Naruto's head.

"Ow! I was just joking!" Naruto shouted, rubbing his head.

"Yea, I have a dragon made of cotton candy." Maya said. The sarcasm seemed to be lost on the boy, his face lighting up with excitement at the notion of a candy molded into the form of a dragon. "It's sarcasm Naruto."

A second later, his face drooped, frowning deeply. Naruto looked at the book once more, deciding since she was on his left he could use his right eye to read. Naruto opened the book once more and lifted up the right side of his forehead protector, giving him an all too familiar look.

From Maya's spot, she couldn't see beyond the metal of the forehead protector. What made it worst was Naruto moved his hand up to help hide his eye. Again she shrugged, deciding on other ways to take a look. It bugged her for so long, what was up with his eyes. Putting her mind off it for now, Maya looked at the book, reading the title. She hummed looking up at Naruto. "A beginner's book on seals?"

Naruto nodded, going over something he would like to try. "That's interesting. Maybe I can pick up on it too." Maya said grinning gleeful. She took a seat before looking at the book. Almost immediately she started reading, hoping to gain some more of an insight on it. After a moment she realized he was far ahead of anything that she could understand without reading the beginning. But that didn't stop her from continuing on.

While she read Maya failed to realize Naruto's eye was on her, finding her more fascinating then the book she was reading. He studied her smooth, flawless skin, her silver hair that held such a gleam to it even at night. A smile appeared on his face, remembering his little nickname for her solely because of those two antennas like bangs coming from her head. He couldn't see her eyes and he wished he could. His chakra radar was good for seeing but nothing beats watching her with his eyes.

"What's the other type of seal that you want to make?" Naruto nearly jumped, a nervous sweat rolling down his cheek.

"Well it's an interesting one…but hard for me to explain." Naruto said. He hummed looking up at the leaves above him. "It's really complicated even for me."

Maya laughed a bit, turning to look at him. "You know that's not saying much."

Naruto frowned, not liking the jab at his intelligent. So what if he wasn't the smartest guy, at least he wasn't stupid. He would place himself in the middle of his class in the brain department. He just had to study a little bit harder than a lot of people.

The blonde turned his head to her slightly and closed his book. He pulled the forehead protector down over his eye once again, deciding to end this little reading session. He wasn't in the mood for it now.

Maya stared at him, smiling at her accomplishment. "Aw, I think little Whiskers-chan is mad." Maya poked his squishy cheek as she said this, completely her little taunt. Naruto's head turned to her, his book being placed on the ground. It was easy to tell where this was going. He just wondered how much she would be able to take.

Anko poked at the fire with a stick, deciding it was about time to call it a night. She looked across at everyone quickly finding her two students missing from direct sight. She hummed, looking around. It didn't take her long to find the leg of the blonde behind a tree, toward where they entered. Tossing the stick inside of the fire, she stood. "Hey! Naru…" Her sentence was stopped, seeing her blonde student fly from his spot, Maya being the reason.

Anko closed her mouth and watched, noticing everyone else's eyes were on the two. "Oh god, again?" Aya let out standing quickly. She moved to go over there, but was stopped by Anko's hand. She looked over to her, frowning.

"Just watch." She said. Looking back at her students she watched Maya throw a punch at the boy below her, only to be caught. Then they were rolling, hands flying all over to place. They were rolling dangerously close to Sasuke, but the raven haired preteen made sure to get out the way.

This made Sakura slightly agitated; no one almost rolls into Sasuke-kun. "Hey you two! Stop it!" Her shout was ignored, the two continuing as if unfazed.

"Anko-san, does this happen often?" Kakahsi asked.

"Nope, this happens rarely. They usually start fist fighting. It's fun to watch." She replied, her hand leaving Aya's shoulder.

"And you just watch them?" Sakura asked, looking at the older woman.

Anko nodded, why stop their lovers quarrel.

"They seems like little brats to me." Tazuna chimed in. He regretted his words when two pebbles struck him upside the head. "Eeyah!" He grabbed his head, hissing as he checked for blood.

Aya sighed, not wanting this to continue. She turned around and walked to her tent. She went to her bag and opened the smaller pouch behind it. She pulled out a golden chain, with a circular pendent attached to it. She walked out from the tent, heading back over to the camp fire, waiting for the inevitable to happen.

Anko being the only one to notice looked at what she brought out. Staring at the pendent, she had to say it was quite beautiful. The design etched into it was the mitsu tomoe, each tomoe being of a different color. The first one was golden-red, the second was silvery-blue, and the final one was white. In the circular part of each tomoe was a clear diamond, which glowed lightly in the wake of the fire. "What's that for?" Anko asked. This question brought everyone's eyes to the girl, the gleaming of the necklace drawing their attention.

Sakura's eyes lit up at the sight, her hands clasping together "Wow! That's beautiful!" Her loud exclamation, caused to two to stop fighting.

Maya was sitting on top of Naruto, his forehead protector in her hand. Her cheeks flushed, his left hand grasping her breast. Her left hand was held by his, stopping her from giving him the punch he so rightly deserved. At this time, both of their attention was on the Aya or more precisely the chain.

"Aya…why do you have that?" Maya asked, ignoring all else.

Aya wrapped the chain loosely around her fingers, inspecting it. "I stole it from you a week ago" Aya still wondered why her cousin never looked for it, she probably didn't even know it was gone.

Naruto opened his mouth, his chakra radar telling him exactly where she was. "Ok, I see." With that said, he gave one last squeeze before pushing the girl off him. Then he was up, dashing at the brunette. He managed to make in only a few steps before he was forced off balanced, a rock to the side of his head being the cause. He hit the ground hard, his hands going to his head.

While he was down, Maya took the chance to make it to her cousin, a satisfied smile on her face. She reached over and relieved Aya of the necklace, slightly disappointed that she stole it from her. "You know it bad to steal from me right?"

Aya tilted her head, "You steal from me all the time."

"I steal food from you." Maya corrected. She looked at Naruto and frowned, his eyes closed shut. She hoped he would slip up and look at her, but it seems it wouldn't happen.

Naruto stood up, dusting his clothes off. He held out his hand, frowning. "Maya-chan I would like to have that back now."

Maya shook her head, putting it in her pouch for safe keeping. "What would be the point? You don't wear it." Maya replied. He took a step forward and she grinned. "Whiskers, you aren't getting it."

"Whiskers?" Anko asked confused.

Aya looked at her, "Nickname. It's because of his birthmarks."

Naruto head titled as he started to crack his knuckles. "Do you really want to start this? I will take it from you."

Maya laughed, getting ready for his attack. "Try it." Naruto lunged forward, throwing hook at Maya's face. He found his attack was unsuccessful, his body being pushed to the ground. A pulse of chakra told him that it was his sensei who was responsible. She was sitting on his back tapping her chin.

Naruto gritted his teeth, turning his head back at her. "Anko-chan, get off me, now!"

Anko stared at him, humming. He only used her name when he was serious. She smiled, "Sorry Naru-chan, no can do."

Naruto grunted putting his hands together. "Fine." He said, making some hand seals. He wasn't able to finish his jutsu, a rock smashing against his the middle of his forehead. He gritted his teeth, his hands coming to his forehead.

Maya walked up to him, crouching in front of his face. "You idiot, you can't use a jutsu here. You'll give us away" Maya said, poking his covered forehead. Naruto's mouth opened a slight look of surprise on his face.

"I-I knew that."

Everyone except Maya's head dropped, 'He didn't know.'

"Then you should act like you know." Maya scolded, poking him again.

Everyone seemed to look at each other, again thinking together. 'She believed him?'

"Anyway." Anko said, chuckling. "We should hit the hay. We have a long day tomorrow."

"Oooooo!" Naruto let out. "Can I do first watch!"

Anko grinned, getting off her student. "What do you say about that Kakashi?"

"Alright. That's fine." Kakashi said. "Then, Aya-chan should be next."

"Then Maya-chan." Anko said, grinning.

"Then Sasuke-kun."

"OOOOH! Then me again!" Naruto cheered, standing.

"Then Sakura-chan"

Anko hummed, "Then you. I'll take the last watch."

Kakashi nodded, "That seems alright. An hour for each of us should be alright."

"That's agreeable." Anko said. "Now! To the tent!" Anko turned. Naruto tilted his head, she was going to stay in there too?

Naruto shook his head, noticing something off. Naruto palmed his face, finally realizing his forehead protector was off. He turned his head to Maya scowling, "Oi! Give me my forehead protector!"

Maya smiled brightly, "Right, right." She tossed it over to him, the boy easily catching it.

Naruto mumbled something lowly, turning around. Using a few chakra pulses, Naruto directed himself over to where his scroll was, retying his villages insignia over his eyes. He could hear rustling behind him, he could tell everyone was getting in their sleeping bags and whatnot, trying to get to sleep as soon as possible so they could be ready for their time at watch.

While they did that, Naruto started cleaning his things. He sealed everything into a scroll, even the scroll before putting it away in one of his pockets. Walking back around the tree Naruto made his way over to the fire. With two pulses of chakra, the blonde received a nearly perfect picture of the clearing. The four girls of the group was nowhere to be found, while Sasuke, Kakashi and Tazuna were already in their sleeping bags.

Without a word Naruto walked over to the camp fire, taking a seat on a conveniently placed log. Feeling a stick underneath his foot, the blonde leaned over and picked it up. He felt the length of it, finding it to be long enough to reach the fire I front of him. With a slight smile, Naruto began poking at the only source of entertainment in front of him.

Twenty minutes into his guard, Naruto was fairly certain everyone was sleeping. The soft snores of the men around him confirming it. Deciding it was as good as any time, the blonde threw the burnt stick into the flames. He slowly reached up, pushing his forehead protector to the area it was meant to protect. Once it was secure, his arms dropped and his eyes opened.

Almost as soon that happened an intense burning sensation seemed to flow into his eyes. Naruto gritted his teeth tightly, his hands going to his face as he leaned over. Naruto dug his sandals into the dirt, a multitude of images flashed before his eyes. He couldn't concentrate on anyone of them, the boiling pain flowing into the rest of his face.

Naruto endured it only for a minute before reaching up and pulling his forehead protector down. And just like that it all stopped. Naruto breathed easily, sweat lightly coating his face. His body relaxed as he leaned back. "God…" He muttered.

After a minute, the blonde genin pushed the metal plated cloth back up, bracing himself for what was to come.

**The next day**

Naruto was the last to get off the boat, a frown on his face. What was up with all the guy? Why couldn't there be a ferry woman helping them out? "This is it for me. Good bye and good luck." Naruto turned his head, concentrating on the ferry man.

Tazuna reached out, gripping the man's hands. "Alright. You have my gratitude."

The man nodded releasing his hand. "Get home safe."

"With these guys here, I have nothing to worry about." Tazuna said, smiling. Naruto shook his head, adjusting the sword on his back. After a few seconds he heard the light tapping of wood and figured the man just started his departure.

"We should get going." Anko said.

Kakashi nodded in agreement, staring at Tazuna.

"Alright. Get me home safe."

Without further wait, the group walked away. It took only minutes for them to reach a tree line of a forest. Naruto walked in between his team. His forehead protector was slightly raised, enough for him to see the ground if he had his eyes opened. With it positioned like this, as long as he stayed between them he wouldn't have to use his chakra radar.

Five minutes passed without much happening. Naruto hummed, raising his right arm and covering his mouth. This action though was seen as something else for everyone else. "Hm? Covering a yawn there? You tired Naru-chan?" Anko asked, peering down at the boy. Naruto's hand dropped, a pursing his lips together.

"Are you still mad about that?" Naruto asked turning his head to her. "I said I was sorry. I lost track of time."

Anko glared, "You don't lose track of time when guarding a camp." She tapped him across the head, her eyebrow twitching. "Now you can't even preform to your fullest."

Naruto jerked back, mortified at her statement. "I so can. I once stayed up five days straight. And on the fifth day we had a mock battle at the academy."

"Even so, that wasn't a mission where you could die." Maya chimed in. Naruto turned to her, crossing his arms.

"I'm fine. I'm not in the least bit tired." Naruto threw two jabs ahead. "I could take care of anything that comes my way."

Anko stared ahead, fixing the strap of her bag. "You're going to have to. After all, you can't rest now."

"It sounds like you two don't have faith in me." Naruto said.

"Heh!" Maya let out. "I do have faith in you. I trust you to be a pervert and an idiot." Anko laughed, being joined in by the two girls on team 7.

Naruto scowled for a moment before it was replaced with a grin. "I hear that!" A second after his statement, his hand came around, smacking the girl's butt.

The sound of flesh slapping flesh rang out, followed by a barely audible yelp from the girl "Kye." She jolted her eyes wide and her hands coming to her behind. Everyone's eyes came to them, the sound drawing there attention. From her surprised look which was quickly changing to anger and Naruto's hand still being extended it was easy to see what he did.

The group stopped, staring at them surprised. Naruto could tell she was stunned, surprised that he would do that right now. But her anger would soon break through that. Well after what he will say, it will. "Nice." Naruto then promptly leaned back, avoiding the blow that came to his jaw. Because of her anger, Maya's attack was slightly overextended. Naruto used this to advantage, striking three more times on his friend's bottom.

"Hehehe" Naruto laughed, moving to the right as her elbow came at him. _I should probably move away from her now_, Naruto thought. Naw, that wouldn't be fun. Staying in his spot, the blonde found his robe grabbed. He was pulled close to Maya, who he could tell was quite heated. He chuckled as she reeled her arm back.

Suddenly he was pulled from his friends grasp. He didn't need to see to know it was Anko; her breast pressing against his head was enough. She corrected that a second later. "Hey now, no fighting." Naruto frowned tilting his head back. She was ruining his fun.

Maya gritted her teeth, tightening her fist. "Sensei…"

"Ah! Wait until we aren't in the open." Anko interrupted. "And you. Don't start anything." She ended it with a strike to the back of his head.

Naruto's head snapped forward, she hit him harder than normal. Naruto grabbed the back of his head, rubbing the stinging spot. "Alright." Naruto raised his head.

After apologizing to for her students, the group began moving ahead. Sakura, still holding a grudge or so Naruto thought, asked a very important question. "Maya-san, how can you hang out with a pervert like him?"

Naruto mouth opened first, "Oi! First things first, you have a sensei who reads Ichi Ichi paradise." Naruto wished he could see what expression they had on but continued either way. "Secondly you have no reason to talk, miss my nipples get hard when I'm tied up."

"Ooooooo!" Anko voice rang out.

Sakura bit her lip, her hands clutching at her dress. "M-my nipples weren't hard!"

Aya looked back at the boy, disappointed. "Naruto."

"Aya-chan, I'm just speaking the truth." Naruto whined before grinning. "Now, I would like to make it clear, I am not a pervert. I just figuring my victim's potential."

Anko had to interrupt there, "Your victim's potential? How exactly does groping them do that?"

Naruto let out a chuckle, "Hebi-chan, Hebi-chan, Hebi-chan. I thought you knew." He missed her stare that said; obviously I didn't know and continued. "When girls get face perverts their strength grows at least by four, but when they get groped it grows even larger. So when I grope a girl. I do it to see just how potentially stronger they can become."

The group blinked at his explanation, Anko deciding to continue the conversation. "If that's the case, why haven't you groped Aya-chan?"

A large face splitting smile appeared on his face, his arms rising. "Oh I have." His hands began emulating the motion as if he was squeezing something. The boy licked his lips, remembering the feel of her body. A hard tap brought him out of his memory to which he wanted to dive deeper in. He turned his head to Maya and grinned. Her body felt nice as well, thought in a few years it would be so much better.

Blood dripped from his nose, his imagination going wild. "Are you fantasizing?" Maya asked. Naruto shook his head and chuckled.

"Yeah I am. In a few years…You two are going to look niiiiiccccce." Naruto wiped the blood from his nose, hearing a sigh from his side. "Anyway, I could give you an accurate account of the bodies of each women or girl that I've groped, not to mention how hard they hit."

"Really?" Anko said, curiously. "Ok, out of all the woman who you've groped, who has hit the hardest?"

Naruto turned to her, his face lighting up. "Ok." He turned forward, crossing his arms. "Hm….you sensei, dish out accumulative damage. You never hit just once. But you are pretty high up there." Naruto said smiling with a blush. "Maya-chan, attacks hurt, but it's not the worst I felt. Aya-chan the same, under Maya-chan though." Naruto hummed, this was a toughie. "Now Nai-chan, she knows how to land a punch."

Anko stared at him, horrified, "Hold on, Nai-chan hits harder than I do?"

"Heh!" Naruto laughed. "No, she just knows how to throw a punch." Naruto hummed once more, hearing a relieved sigh from Anko. "The person who hits the hardest, that's Nozomi-chan."

Maya did a double take, "Nozomi-san? The nurse?"

"Y-you're joking." This time it was Kakashi. Naruto didn't know he was in this conversation.

"Nope. She hits so hard, she earned me referring to her by her last name." Naruto said.

"Are you sure? Nozomi is so bubbly." Anko said. "I've seen her get groped before and she never hits. She's like an airhead."

Naruto frowned, "No, she doesn't hit them because she's on duty. But when she's off her job she will wail on someone for groping her."

"I can't see it." Maya muttered.

"Trust me…." Naruto sentence was cut short, a kunai making its way to his hand. He let it fly, the blade whizzing by Sasuke's neck, cutting some strains of his raven-black. This stopped everyone cold, most of the group now staring at Naruto.

"Naruto what the hell!" Sakura shouted.

Naruto played the girl no mind, his attention on the bush his kunai flew through. He moved forward, Sasuke being put on edge. Just as he took his second step his arm was grabbed. "Naruto, what are you doing?" His head turned to Maya, frowning.

"Please release me." Naruto replied. He felt her fingers twitch against his skin before she released him. Naruto nodded in thanks, turning his head. He sent out a pulse of chakra, the image of the group entering his mind. He noticed Kakashi was at the bush, pushing the leaves apart. He began to walk forward, deciding to follow Kakashi's lead.

Passing by Tazuna, the hairs on the back of Naruto's neck stood rigid. His left hand flew up, uncovering his eyes whilst two simultaneous shouts of duck rang out. Naruto turned quickly, his right hand on the hilt of his sword, his mind focused on the twirling blur that was speeding towards him. In the split second glance Naruto was able to see that everyone in its path was already on the ground or in the process of it.

_Two seconds_, crossed Naruto's mind as he drew his sword. He positioned it in front of him, barely bracing the spine of the katana with his left hand before the weapon bashed into him. With a slight thrust of his right arm, the larger weapon was sent into the air, Naruto being pushed slightly off balance. _Grab it! _Naruto steadied himself before crouching down and leaping after it.

Naruto found himself lucky, knocking the blade upward slowed its speed. He was next to it before it sliced into anything, his left hand reaching for the hilt. His eyes widen a man entering his view. The man's hand was on the hilt of the sword, the large weapon just over his shoulder. Naruto tried to put up a guard only from the sword to come down on him, breaking the steel of his katana before slicing his body entwine.

Naruto blinked the image from his mind._ I miscalculated. _He thought drawing his left hand back. He prepared to defend, the man appearing before him once more, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword. Like clockwork, the blade of the man came upon the genin, though this time the blade held up.

Looking in the eyes of man in front of him, Naruto felt his sword be pushed back, the cold steel of the large sword cutting into Naruto's left shoulder. He hissed, gravity pulling him down with the help of the man's attack.

Naruto hit the ground, landing on his feet, with a flick of his wrist; he sent a kunai into the air. He realized his fatal error in judgment seeing the large sword spinning down toward him, passing his kunai without worry.

"Naruto!" A pair of shouts entered his ears, a second before the sword hit the ground in front of him. Naruto turned his head quickly, realizing he was moving or more specifically being carried. Looking up, he noticed it was Kakashi who got him out of that jam. Blue eyes narrowed his body tense as he was put down.

"You ok?" Kakashi said.

Naruto breathed easily, nodding his head. "I'm fine. T-thank y-you." Naruto forced out, his nails biting into the skin of his palm.

"Heh! To believe you could save him from that." Naruto's eyes moved forward, landing on the man who attacked him. He was now standing behind his sword, his right hand on top of it. Naruto had to wonder one thing, why were so many people covering the bottom part of their faces? Kakashi, the two demon brothers, now this guy with bandages, was there a club or something?

"Well, well if it isn't the hidden mist missing-nin, Momochi Zabuza." Kakashi said, standing. Naruto stood up and began moving his left arm around; it seems the wound wouldn't impair him. Now to pay the fucker back.

Before he could move, Naruto found himself being pulled back by his robes. His head hit something soft, and the boy looked up. Anko had stopped him again. Her arm went just across his collar bone, pushing him against her. "Stand down Naru-chan, this is not a battle you can handle."

Naruto took light breaths, nodding his head. His eyes went to his right, a gleam catching his attention. Again he found himself being carried backward, escaping from a two kunai that was aimed specifically at his head. His eyes were on the trees, his eyes on a man crouching on a branch. Naruto slipped is hand into Anko's cloak, to where she kept her kunai. He grabbed one from her, feeling her jerk a bit as they stopped. Then he lashed out, tossing the kunai at him.

Naruto watched him lean to the side, dodging it like it was the easiest thing in the world. It hit the tree next to him slicing clean through it. A loud whistle rang out, the new entrée staring at the dropping wood.

Thump!

Leaves flew into the air, surprising most of the group. "Wow, you've gotten better." He said. Naruto's broke apart from Anko, stepping forward. His eyes were on the forehead protector around his forehead, the konoha symbol being crossed with a mark.

A twisted grin appeared on his face, his head tilting. "You should thank your little sister, she was happy to help."

The man smiled, "Hehahaha, funny."

Naruto tilted his sword, "Not as funny as…whoah!" Naruto was pulled behind Anko, her eyes twitching.

Anko looked back at him, "Stand back, before I…" Anko stopped, blinking. "Ha, your eyes are blue."

Naruto blinked a couple of times, _Noooooo! She saw my eyes._ Naruto raised his hand up, but stopped deciding against it. He needed his eyes for this. "Yea…I thought I told you."

"Nope you didn't" Anko said, facing the man.

"Anko-chan long time no see!" The man said, his eyes scanning the rest of the group. "And what's this, Maya-chan is here as well." His eyes then traveled to Aya, "And little Aya-chan. Interesting."

Naruto glanced back at Aya, noticing she was shaking. He growled lowly, Maya walking to his right side. He looked ahead and felt her hand on his side. He glanced at her just as sharp pain ran through the spot she pinched. "Well if it isn't the traitor." She said.

"Ah such a fond welcome." He said rubbing his brown eyes. "It almost brings a tear to my eye."

"Enough!"

Everyone glanced at Zabuza, the man drawing his sword. "The old man is mine. Hand him over."

Anko started laughing, Naruto following suit. "Can you believe it, he's into old men!" She pointed at him, leaning on Naruto's head.

"I bet that's the only play he can get!" Naruto let out. Maya covered her mouth, trying hard not to join in. Kakashi, who didn't have such resolve, chuckling a bit.

Anko looked at Naruto, holding her sides. "What do you think, Naru-chan? Is he top or bottom?"

"As disgusting as it is, I think he's bottom." Naruto jeered.

"He does look like he has a stick up his ass!"

Their taunts seemed to have angered the man, his narrowed eyes tipping them off. It didn't help that the konoha missing nin was laughing as well. "Wow, they hit that nail on the head."

"Wow, your one to laugh." Maya said. "If I remember correctly you had an interest in little boys." This had it intended effect, shutting the ninja up.

Naruto's eyes shot up in horror. He looked at the ninja before hiding behind Maya. "All of it makes sense now." Naruto muttered.

"It does…all those stares that he gave you." Anko said, rubbing her chin. "I thought he was just angry but he was actually lusting after you Naru-chan."

Naruto gasped loudly, "Protect me!"

"Really funny." He said, glaring.

"Don't worry, Naru-chan. I'll protect you." Anko said, finally getting serious.

Naruto blinked, "Are we getting serious now because I actually want to take a crack at him."

Anko chuckled once more, "No can do. I don't want you taking any more damage then you already have."

Naruto pouted, crossing his arms. "Alright but can you do it quickly. I find looking at him irritating."

Maya looked back at him, "Naruto you can't rush a battle."

Anko nodded, "That is correct, especially this one." Anko licked her lips, a toothy grin crossing her face.

"Yes, yes." Naruto grumbled. He lightened up, stepping by Maya's side. "Good luck." Naruto said, swinging his arm and slapping her butt. She jumped slightly and grinned through her anger.

"Thanks" She replied.

"Come." The missing nin said, leaping off.

"Listen to Kakashi until I return!" She shouted, giving chase.

Naruto sniffed, "I miss her already."

Maya shook her head and looked over at his shoulder. It wasn't too bad, but they would need to patch it up soon. But before that, "Kakashi-san, what should we do?"

"Guard Tazuna, I'll handle him." Kakashi said. With that he raised his hand up to his forehead protector. "Zabuza, first you'll handle me." Then from what Maya could see, he lifted up his forehead protector.

Maya didn't have to look to know what he revealed, she had seen the sharingan once before and found it less impressive then people seemed to think.

"Ah! I already get to see the famous Sharingan. I'm honored." Zabuza spoke.

"You're honored to see the Sharingan?" Naruto asked. "I see the weak are attracted to weak abilities."

Maya's head snapped to him, "Naruto, this isn't the time to say this."

He glanced at her, shrugging. "Sorry, but it's true. Such an ability, to copy what one works hard to create and use as soon as it is seen, is an asinine one. Anybody with adequate skill should be able to handle it."

"Heh. It seems like one of your brats dislikes that Kekkai genkai." Zabuza said.

"What a way to state the obvious. What's next, you're going to state that I'm blonde?" Naruto asked. Maya took this moment to grab his arm and pulling him over to Tazuna. She noticed Zabuza's eyes followed them the whole way.

"You sure talk a lot, genin."

"You do as well, cowa…" His sentence was cut off, two hands covering his mouth. Maya blinked looking back. Aya was the one who cut him up.

"Naruto stop it." Aya whispered. "You're distracting sensei."

"She's right." Maya said, thought she found it odd that the man was going back and forth with Naruto.

"Hn, let's end this talking, I have an old man to kill." Zabuza said.

All five genins reacted, Team 7 making a close, half circle in front of Tazuna, Sasuke and Sakura had a kunai out, while Aya held her sword. Maya and Naruto positioned themselves in front of Sasuke who was directly in front of Tazuna, their weapons position in front of them.

"Heh! It seems I will have to take care of you first." Zabuza said. Naruto's eyes followed him, the man ripping the blade from the ground and retreating to the middle of the pond in front of them. He stood on the surface of the water with on hand up in a seal near his mouth and the other high in the air. The water under him circled before raising up, changing form to a light mist. "Nipou: Hidden mist jutsu." Even thought it was a low mutter, Naruto heard it perfectly.

Within second his complete from was veiled by the haze, the mist spreading.

"He's gone." Sakura let out.

"He's using another jutsu." Maya said.

"High or low level?" Naruto asked. Through the mist, Naruto could see a low bluish light, though it soon flickered away.

"Mid-rank, I think." Maya said, before narrowing her eyes. "There…is another chakra signature."

Naruto nodded, "It must be the fake hunter nin." Naruto muttered to himself. He didn't realize Maya heard him.

"He'll come after me first." Kakashi spoke. "Zabuza Momochi….As a member of hidden mist…he was known as an expert in silent killing." Kakashi stated. "You don't even notice until you're already dead. It's not like I can use the Sharingan perfectly. You guys be careful."

Everyone nodded, Naruto shifting just a bit. He was ready to turn if anything happened. Soon enough, the mist got thicker clouding everyone's vision. They could hardly even see the pond anymore but because of their close proximity to Kakashi they could perceive him almost as clear as day.

Suddenly a heavy pressure pressed down on the group causing all of them to break out in a light sweat. "The mist is getting thicker." Aya said.

"Eight choices" Zabuza voice rang out, almost seemingly to echo from all directions. It served to put them even further on edge.

"What?" Sakura let out.

"Liver, Lungs, Spine, Clavical vein, neck vein, brain, kidneys, heart."

Naruto listened as he looked around. He couldn't find him by ear, but maybe he could locate him with his eyes, or better yet. He sent out a pulse of chakra, his eyes burning a bit. In a second the image of the surround area came to him, unhindered by the mist. A huge grin came upon his face, his eyes going to his left.

"Which one should I go after?"

Naruto couldn't explain why, but this was getting increasing exciting. He wanted to fight, he wanted to cut, to make this man bleed. His body began to shake unconsciously as the pressure known as killing intent washed over them in droves. Naruto let out a breath, unknowing unleashing his own intent.

The three mixtures of intent made it very hard for the other four genin to relax. They shook visible now, unable to hold it in. It was like having someone squeeze their hearts in their hand. The thoughts that ran through their minds reflected their state of mind.

_What, what is this? I never felt anything like this before._ Sakura thought, the kunai quaking in her shivering hands.

_I can't believe anybody could make this type of feeling. I can barely breathe._ Aya thought staring ahead, it made it that much harder for her to endure.

_What an incredible killing intent. It feels like I'll be killed if I make a single move. This could drive a person crazy. The intensity of a jounin… It's feels like my life is being squeezed. I can't take it…I'd almost rather die now and get it over with._ Sasuke thought, his sweat dropping down like rain.

_This is bad; I haven't felt this in so long. Even whisker's killing intent wasn't this unbearable. _Maya thought, though she wasn't affect to the extent as the others.

"Sasuke…" Kakashi let out calmly, noticing he was affected the most. "Don't worry. I'll protect you guys even if it kills me." He turned a little, showing his patented eye smile, though there was a cool looking scar over his eye. "I don't let my comrades die." Somehow, these words put the four genin at ease. Though it made Naruto slightly irritated.

"Heh! We'll see about that!" Zabuza's voice rang out.

As soon as these words came out, Zabuza appeared in the middle of team seven, crouched a bit, his sword position to cut through all four of them, starting with Tazuna. All of them felt his sudden presence but were unable to move.

A sudden movement in front of them caught their eyes before all four of them were pushed aside. "Guh" Zabuza let out as all eyes came to the smaller form in front of him. The four of them landed on the ground, each one of the three genin looking at them.

"N-naruto?" Sakura let out, expressing her surprise.

"Nice try." Naruto muttered, water dripping down the blade that impaled the man. At that moment the Zabuza in front of Naruto dissipated into water, another one appeared behind the blonde.

"Naruto! Behind you!" Aya shouted. Naruto turned, his eyes staring at the man as he swung his sword at the kid.

Naruto prepared to defend himself, thinking of how to counter attack afterward. Before the blade could hit its mark, Maya plowed into Naruto, getting him out of danger before he could be hurt again. Naruto saw a few strands of hair fly from her head as he hit the ground, the blade flying over them. A second later Kakashi appeared behind the Mist ninja, the black haired man's body going still.

Naruto was forced into a slight roll, from what he guessed was a habit by now. When they stopped, Maya was once again on top of him. "Gyyaah!" Both of them looked towards Sakura just in time to see a kunai be placed by Zabuza's neck.

"Wow that was fast." Naruto said.

"Don't move!" Kakashi voice said behind him. "It's over."

At this Maya got off him and stood, Naruto following after her.

"Haha." Sakura let out happily. Aya joined her, in a relieved laugh, relaxing a bit.

"…Hehehehe It's over?" He asked. "You don't get it. There is no way you can defeat me with your monkey like imitations." Zabuza said.

"Hey, do you feel his chakra?" Naruto asked. Maya glanced at him before concentrating.

"At that time you had already copied my Mizu Bunshin no jutsu. You had your clones say those words to attract my attention while you hid in the mist and watched me."

Maya's eyes widen, another chakra source approaching Kakashi. "Kakashi-san, behind you!"

Kakashi's eyes widen at her warning, his body turning just as the Zabuza in front of him turned to water. He noticed the man behind him swinging his blade in a wide arc and ducked, dodging it with time to spare. A second later, the man's foot came at around, kicking him square in the chest. Kakash flew away, towards the water, his eyes on the swordsman.

Zabuza gave chase, ready to finish the jounin off. He was forced to stop, noticing makibishi scattered on the ground in his path. He looked up just as Kakashi hit the water and smirked "Foolish" He said disappearing in a blur.

"So, Zabuza is also strong in taijutsu." Naruto voiced out, not realizing he just say something on somebody else's mind. Maya was the only one who seemed to realize this young boy was really excited.

They watched the silver haired jounin surface, his arms lifting up like something was off. Naruto frowned almost instantly. "This has just gotten bad." There was no time for anyone to question him, Zabuza appearing behind the man, standing on the water and his hands in a seal.

Unexpectedly the water went up around the man, creating a perfect dome that encased him. It seemed to keep his whole body just above the water. The man's hand was pushed into the dome, almost as a sign that it was how he was sustaining the technique.

They all watched as the man spoke to Kakashi, words only Naruto could somehow hear. What they did see was the missing nin make a one handed seal before the water rose in front of him, taking the form of Zabuza. Everyone stood on edge, the clone walking over to land.

Naruto sighed, "Maya-chan. I uncover my eyes and this is the sight I see."

"Hey…ninja battles have unexpected results." Maya said calmly, though her stance proved she wasn't as composed as she sounded.

"Hehe, wearing forehead protectors and acting like real ninjas…But you know what? A real ninja is someone who has survived numerous brushes with death. Basically once you're good enough to be listed in my handbook…" He said making a seal. "..then you can start calling yourself a ninja…You guys should not be referred to as ninjas." Then he was gone.

Naruto's eyes widen and he lashed out, shoving Maya hard and sending her off towards the other genin. He had only a moment to put up his guard, thinking it was enough to lessen the damage he would take. A foot appeared before his eyes, pushing into his arm before breaking completely through it. He was sent flying back, his forehead protector leaving his head as if by some mystic force.

"Naruto!" Aya screamed, as the blonde hit the earth, sliding back across the ground. He came to a stop and placed his hand on his head.

Naruto leaned up, staring at the man. His body was shaking, the blow clearly affecting him. "Just a brat." He heard, from the original.

"YOU GUYS! TAKE TAZUNA-SAN AND RUN AWAY! YOU HAVE NO CHANCE OF BEATING HIM!" Kakashi yelled out. "AS LONG AS HE KEEPING ME IN HERE HE CAN'T MOVE. THE WATER CLONE CANNOT GO VERY FAR FROM HIS BODY. JUST RUN AWAY NOW!"

Naruto sat up, wiping the blood off his lip. He looked at the clone, before looking at his forehead protector. His eyes came back to the water being, before standing slowly. "Run away?" Naruto asked stabbing his sword into the ground. His eyes came to Kakashi, "Good idea." Everyone stared confused as he released his sword, bursting forward.

"NO! DON'T" Kakashi yelled.

"He…" Sasuke started.

Sakura grabbed her head, "NARUTO! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!"

A second later Naruto flew back into the air, blood flying from his mouth. But this time he was spared from the landing on the hard ground. Maya and Aya reached him, catching him in their arms, though they found out how hard he was kicked, and their feet sliding back some.

He was placed on the ground when they finally stopped, which landed them just behind the rest of their group. Naruto groaned leaning his head back. "What are you doing jumping in all by yourself!? We are genin we have no chance against him!" Sakura scolded, loudly.

It took a second for her question to be answered, the boy raising his hand which now held the forehead protector. "You went for your protector?!" Maya asked. He nodded, and she let out a sigh. "If you are going to do that, then don't get hit." Naruto grinned at her, moving from their hold. Standing straight and a little wobbly, Naruto began to move from them.

"Naruto…" Aya called out surprised.

He only continued to grin, walking away from the group. He tied his forehead protector on his forehead, taking a deep breath. He stopped at his sword and grabbed the hilt. "Listen closely… Mr. I wish I had eyebrows!" Naruto pulled his sword from the group, feeling the heated glare of the clone. "The young man standing in front of you right now…" Naruto turned at that point, pointing his sword at the clone. "Will bear the title of strongest in this world! So on your way to the underworld; tell the Shinigami I'll be sending more people down there." Naruto smirked devilishly at his exclamation, his sword gleaming as the light hit it.

It took a moment but both the clone and Zabuza laughed. The clone took it one step further and deciding to refute his statement. "Really boy? You think you are str…

Splash!

Silent stares surveyed the scene, the clone no longer being there, only the blonde genin standing in its spot. "No I don't think, I know I'm strong enough." Naruto smug smile accompanied this statement.

_He moved so fast._ Sakura thought.

_I…can't believe it._ Sasuke thought, stunned.

Maya smiled, "Cheater!" Aya looked at her, completely thrown off. Naruto looked back at her, grinning.

That a kettle calling the pot black.

"It seems I will have to take care of you myself." Zabuza muttered.

Naruto turned, showing his back to the man once more. He walked back towards the group, not needing to look to see the clone the mist nin would create. Naruto sheathed his blade grinning. "Ok guys, I have a plan."

"What kind of plan?" Maya asked.

Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder, "A pretty good one."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto looked at him, "Alright, I'm going to fight Zabuza," Naruto glanced back, seeing a clone plug it's hand into the dome. "And I want you four to figure out some way to free trap-seeker there."

They looked at him, Maya quickly glaring. "Hell no! You aren't fighting a jounin alone."

Naruto tilted his head at her, "You have a better idea?" He asked.

"If anything, we should go at him together, the two of us should be enough to hold his attention long enough for them to save their sensei." Maya said.

"But he's a jounin, how do you expect to last against him?" Sakura asked.

"We'll come up with…" Maya started, only to feel a hand on her chest. Her face lit up with annoyance, her eyes on Naruto. She refrained from striking him and removed his hand from her person.

"Naruto…this isn't the time to be a pervert." She said, her eyes twitching.

Naruto chuckled, "But Maya-chan there is always time to be a pervert."

"Such arrogance." This drew everyone's eyes back to the man. "To look away from your opponent."

Naruto waved his hand at him, dismissingly. "Hey, we are planning your downfall. Be a good jounin and wait right there."

Zabuza blinked laughing, what could five brats do?

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! RUN AWAY! THIS FIGHT WAS OVER THE MOMENT I WAS CAUGHT! OUR DUTY IS TO PROTECT TAZUNA-SAN! DID YOU FORGET THAT?" Kakashi shouted.

Maya looked from him to Tazuna. "He does have a point."

Naruto looked at Tazuna. "Do you wish to run?"

"Well…" He started with his hat hiding his eyes. "I planted this seed myself. I'm not going to now say that I desire to live so much that I'd stop you. So fight as much as you want."

Naruto laughed loudly, "You just improved on my list."

Tazuna looked slightly happy, nearly laughing at him.

"Hahaha." Zabuza laughed again, his head bowed. Everyone once again looked at him. "You guys will never grow up." Zabuza said looking down.

"Grow up?" Naruto asked.

"Going to keep "playing ninja", eh?" He asked. "Hm, then let me tell you…When I…when I was your age…these hands were already dyed red with blood." Zabuza said, his hand raised in front of him, a crazy glint in his eyes.

"Devil Zabuza." Kakashi said glaring at him. Aya, Sasuke, and Sakura all gulped when they heard this.

"Ah so you hear a little about it." Zabuza said. Naruto palmed his forehead, letting out a loud sigh.

"Long ago, in the hidden mist village, also called the bloody mist…there was a final obstacle in becoming a ninja." Everyone was surprise that it was not Kakashi who said this but Naruto.

"Eh! So someone so young knows about that graduation exam." Zabuza said, eying Naruto.

"Naruto…What exam?" Maya asked, glancing at him. Zabuza started to laugh as Naruto stared at him.

"Eh! It was a fight to the death between students." Naruto said, "Nothing too big." Everyone stared at Naruto, for one out of two reasons. One, he knew that and two was that he was taking it lightly.

Kakashi continued on, without a seconds delay. "Friends who have trained together and eaten at the same table are pitted against each other and go at it…until one of them lost their life. These are friends who had helped each other, shared dreams."

"…Horrible" Both Aya and Sakura said.

"Hmph. 10 years ago the hidden mist graduation exam was forced to change." Naruto said, contempt filling his voice. "This change came after the previous year…when a so called "devil" appeared." Naruto said, imagines appearing before his eyes. They were staring to burn a lot now.

"Change?" Sakura asked. "What change? What did this devil do?" Sakura asked.

Naruto looked at her, "Without pause or hesitation…a young boy who wasn't a ninja killed over a hundred or so students." Naruto said. "Or so they say. I say he just bitched his way through."

At that moment Zabuza moved into action, racing towards the blonde. He sought to deal some damage to prove his dominance over the kids. But he realized it would not be as easy as he first thought. With quick and precise movement, he reached to grab the robes of the boy. But the blonde slid out of reach before jumping up. Watching him closely, Zabuza blocked an oncoming kick and ducked under a second one.

His eyes slid over to the girl by his side, who swung her sword at his leg. He proved his speed by simply leaping back, out of her range, seconds before it was hit him. He leapt back, the black haired boy, leaping up and lunching a spray of kunai at him. He jumped back once more, the kunai piercing the ground. Just as he landed, Naruto was in front of him striking out with spinning kick. He retreated back, avoiding the attack and gaining a little more distance. He was now near the center of the pond, watching the blonde hair boy with a grin. "Pretty good."

Naruto's mouth twitched, "Pretty good? I'm insulted" Naruto turned back to the group, walking over to them. He stopped in front of the nodding his head. "Alright, its decided. I'll take care of him."

"What!" The three girls let out.

"Naruto…" Sakura stopped, her face turning completely red. "Kyaaaa!" She crouched down, covering her chest.

Naruto hummed, looking at his fingers. "Nice, they fit so perfectly in my hand."

"Naruto." Maya growled.

"Don't worry, Maya-chan. Just watch me." Naruto said, curling his fingers in. "Just watch closely."

Naruto walked forward, drawing a kunai from his pouch. He was about a foot away from them when he threw it down and walked beyond it. "Nobody steps beyond this kunai, unless you can free him that is."

Sasuke glared, already not liking this position he was placed in. "Dobe, stop overestimating yourself."

"I don't need your worry." Naruto replied, waving his hand back.

Aya took a step forward, apprehension in her eyes. "Naruto, you can't do this alone. At least let us…"

Naruto stopped and looked back at her, smiling brightly. "Come on Aya-chan, have some faith in me. I'm strong."

"But, Naruto…" She started.

"Don't worry…I can do this." Naruto said grinning. She looked down slightly before nodding.

"Fine. But if it looks like you need help, I'm joining in." Maya said crossing her arms.

Naruto scratched his cheek, relenting to his friend. "Deal." With that he walked ahead.

Kakashi wasn't sure what they discussed but from Naruto walking forward, he could come to his own conclusions. "NARUTO WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? YOU CAN'T WIN BY YOURSELF. JUST HURRY UP AND LEAVE!"

Naruto looked at the water; he hummed gathering chakra into his feet. He stepped on the surface, and glanced at Kakashi. "You have no say. The moment you got captured was the moment you lost all rights to order us around." Naruto replied pointing at him. Kakashi stared, how very impudent of this boy. How in the hell was Anko training them.

With Kakashi now quiet, Naruto got the chance to think. _Ok, I'm not completely at full strength. My speed is at back at 100, I should be able to combat him properly now that I got a feeling for his speed. My chakra is decreasing at a steady rate. Stealth? There is none. No traps I can implore. In the strength department he has the edge. Kenjutsu will have to be my strong point for now and hopefully we won't get into a Ninjutsu battle with Kakashi here._ Naruto thought.

Naruto drew his sword, staring at the man who he knew had a smirk on his face. "Shall we began?" Naruto asked.

Zabuza, who he could tell was looking down on him, drew his sword. "Come on brat. Let's go."

Naruto took deep breaths, staring at him. He was not going to make the first move, and it seems Zabuza wasn't going to either. After a minute, Naruto deciding just staring at the man was not something he was content with. So he began walking to his right, hoping to locate some kind of blind spot. He watched Zabuza do the same, his eyes never leaving him. Maybe he wouldn't have to use anything.

Sakura, recovering from Naruto's sexual harassment watch the proceeding. "What are they doing?"

Aya glanced at her, "Naruto is looking for an opening."

Naruto blocked all else from his mind, concentrating solely on the missing nin. He didn't really find anything with his little stroll but hey it was better than doing nothing. Naruto stopped at his original spot and he decided that was enough of a delay. He dashed forward, Zabuza coming at him at the same time.

Naruto eyes narrowed and he prepared himself for the older man's attack. The first attack came fast but Naruto was ready for it, leaping up above it just in time. Successfully dodging the attack, he spun like a top, lashing out with a kick that had to potential to dislocate the man's jaw. He watched Zabuza, the man displaying superior reflexes by ducking under the attack.

Smash!

Zabuza flew up, his feet off the water. His eyes went wide, the man unable to keep the shock off his face. _Another..attack?_ His eyes went to the boy who extended his foot, coming for a second strike. _I'll block_. His hand came up, his palm open to capture the limb.

Once again Zabuza found himself flying back, confusion shining in his eyes. He flipped, landing on the water and sliding back. He touched his mouth, finding it hurting a lot more then he thought. Though he wasn't extremely strong, he still knew how to kick. He watched the boy land, unable to diagnose what was going on. In the span of ten seconds, he was hit twice when he was sure he evaded or blocked it. It was like his leg just went straight through his guard. It seems that this boy would be a lot more trouble than he anticipated.

On land the genin seemed more preoccupied with the scene then figuring out how to unleash the captured jounin. Sakura was the first to voice her surprise. "I-I can't believe it….Naruto hit him…Twice!"

"That's not that surprising." Maya said. "He has been trained well enough to at least land a few blows against someone stronger than him." Maya crossed her arms, though she said this she still was confused. _His attacks are gliding passed the Zabuza's guard by mere centimeters. It's so easy to see from here…but the question is how? I'm sure Zabuza is fast enough to block his attacks. _She smiled, _than he should be fine for a few minutes, giving us enough time to free Kakashi. _

Sasuke on the other hand clutched his hands tightly in a fist. Though he was happy there was someone who could fight the man, he was upset that it was Naruto. The Naruto who failed half of his test and the test he did pass he passed by one point. It was the same Naruto, who lost to one of the weakest girls in class during spars, the same god damn, untalented idiot who could barely hit the outer rings of the targets. How did he get this strong in one month?

Aya gulped not sure if she should be happy or worried. The man was jounin so he probably would underestimate Naruto, but what would happen when he stopped? She glanced at her team, noticing Sasuke's state of anger. She wondered what his problem was.

Naruto took a deep breath ready to go in again. He charged ahead, his sword cutting the water as he ran in a slightly arc. He saw the man shift, seemingly going on the defense. But Naruto could see clearly his intention and he would diffuse it now.

He got a few feet away from him before skidding to a stop and leaping back. Naruto could tell he was slightly surprised and used the brief time slot to draw shuriken from his pouch and launching four of them, in a short arc towards him. Instead of jumping back, the man chose to block it, which made Naruto a little happy. Zabuza was still in range.

Naruto landed, busting towards Zabuza in a zigzag dash, water rising up behind him. But this time Naruto didn't alter his course. Once in range he leapt at him, his sword ready to pierce him through the chest. The man jumped back, evading the attack all together. It seems that he was being cautious.

Naruto watched him with curious eyes, landing on the water. Zabuza was starting to reevaluate his opinion about him. Not good really, but Naruto didn't care much. All that means is that it would be more fun.

Naruto attention was draw ahead of him, Zabuza disappearing from his spot. "Nice burst of speed." Naruto muttered. Turning swiftly, Naruto blocked the incoming blade. But he couldn't stop himself from being picked off the surface of water, the force being too much to endure.

Naruto stayed calm, his eyes following his opponent as he once again disappeared in a sudden movement. The moment Naruto landed on the water near the land, he jumped up doing a cartwheel as the man appeared behind him once more. From his flipping position he watched the sword passing under him closely. He grinned, finishing his flip on the other side of Zabuza. Switching his hold on his sword, the blonde swung his body, hoping to cause some damage.

Zabuza managed to slide back just in the nick of time. This time he dodged perfectly, no wounds or extra attacks getting to him. He looked at the boy, grinning. _Maybe that was a fluke after all._

Zabuza moved into action deciding to put this kid into his place. He put his intention into action swinging his sword to cut the boy in half by his waist. With his next action, the boy shocked him. He watched as the genin, with precise timing and aim, he placed his hand on the broad side of his large sword. He hopped up out of direct danger of the edge and proved once more that his skills were nothing to take lightly.

Zabuza grunted, sliding back from a double kick to his face. He did manage to get the boy off his sword in the process, with a simple flick of the sword. He recovered fairly quickly, turning to the genin who was now rolling across the water behind him. With a grin, Zabuza put his sword away and began to do hand seals. He was forced to stop, his body at risk of becoming a pin cushion for shuriken.

He ducked and weaved as shuriken after shuriken came his way, He managed to complete two thirds of the seals needed for his jutsu, the shuriken barely even disturbing his concentration. But he had to spot momentarily, leaping out of the way of the projectiles. Then it happened, a lone shuriken arced his way, heading to the middle of his hands. He stopped his technique, leaning back to dodge the sharp weapon, only to catch sight of the boy doing hand signs of his own. The very same set he was just doing.

_Damn it! _Zabuza thought, landing on the water. With his concentration broken, he had to do it once more. With his speed he was able to quickly catch up with the boy and passing him. Finally his hands came to a stop, the water in front of him beginning to rise. _Water release: Grand Cyclone Jutsu. _

"Water Release: Grand Cyclone jutsu"

Zabuza's eyes widened, the water in front of him rising to life, spinning like a tempest. The same happened in front of the kid, except the direction of the spinning water was opposite of his.

The two cyclones danced together, saturating the surround air and stirring the water violently. So fiercely the water fought that nothing remained unaffected. Zabuza's clone seemed to have a hard time staying stationary with the rocketing water. While a fast swirl of water shot off towards the land.

Seeing this, the genin moved quickly, the members of team seven securing their client while Maya moved in front of the group. The blade of the sword was stabbed into the ground, her hands going through some very fast hand signs. Ending in the tiger seal, The blue eyed girl inhaled deeply. _Fire release: Spit fire explosion._

The girl spit out five rapid shots of small fire balls, each one no larger than a handball. Upon colliding with the water they exploded, expanding outward into balls that was just about 1 ½ diameter long. The water was quickly consumed by the fire, steaming being left in its wake. But the water was too great, over lapping the fire before pushing into the group though without as much force.

Maya stood glue to the floor, watching as the water flowed back, almost as if they were reflected off each other. The jounin disappeared from her view, putting her on edge as another wave poured against them. Maya shielded her face enough to keep water out of her eyes, but her eyes were searching for the jounin who was currently missing from her view.

"Guh!" Twin shout from the girls in the group caused Maya to look back. Seeing that it was only the water that was the cause of this, she looked back ahead. She had to make sure Naruto was safe. She knew he was good but this couldn't last long. She had to make sure she reacted quickly enough to help out. Her eyes moved over to the clone, whose eyes were on the fight.

_Chance_ She thought. At that, her hands moved to action, throwing five arcing shuriken towards the clone. She noticed the clone's eyes come to her almost instantly, its hand going into a seal. She mentally cursed, the water in the path of her attack rising and grabbing the projectiles as it formed another body. "Tsk" Maya out, grabbing her sword and drawing her sword from the ground. She watched the clone dash forward, drawing the oversized sword on its back.

The clone made it half way to her before it exploded to the water that made it up. Maya saw Naruto through the almost transparent liquid. She let out a puff of breathe, relaxing at the destruction of the imminent threat. But then the older ninja appeared behind her friend, already in mid swing. "Behind you!"

Naruto landed back, closer to the land then he would like. His chest hurt, blood flowing from the new wound on his person. His shirt was now officially ruined. Bad thing was this was his favorite one. He had groped so many women in this shirt, now he would have to put it to rest.

"Maya-chan! Stay there!" Naruto shouted, his head turning back. He saw her stop just at the spot where the kuani was. Interesting the water didn't move it. "It's just a scratch. So I won't need any help."

"Naruto! Pay attention!" Aya shouted.

Naruto's head snapped forward, sliding to his right. Zabuza's sword passed him, only cutting the air. Using the small interval of time, Naruto leapt up swinging his right leg toward the ninja. The blonde watched closely, his opponent bringing his right hand to intercept his attack. With accurate timing and control, he weaved his leg above the man's hand, evading it and striking his intended target.

Zabuza's head jerked back, his eyes shining as fierce as daggers. Naruto let out a chuckle, drawing his foot away as Zabuza tried to grab him. Once his feet were back on the water, Naruto did a back flip; the man launching another swung of is blade. Seeing another opening, the blonde swung his sword, cutting the exposed leg.

No sound came from Zabuza as Naruto landed, but he did notice the man retreating quickly. But he would not let him go so easily. Naruto chased after him, noticing the man putting his sword back on his back.

With swift hand seals, the man completed his jutsu before Naruto could reach him. But the boy wasn't deterred, seeing the dozen water clones pop form from the water under them. Naruto could only smile brightly, somehow coming to the conclusion that he was pushing the man back into a corner.

What happened next could only be described as a dance of blades and water. The blonde was weaving through the clones, only blocking what was deemed necessary while evading, with unbelievable ease, those that were not.

All that watched had a singular thought that he was well trained. A little too well trained for the short time he was under Anko's care. He moved well, have little unnecessary movement with each action. His attacks came out fast, only a bright sheen alerting them to his actions. But for the clones there were no warning before they burst back into their element.

Kakashi watched on, memorizing his movements with his one open eye. _I didn't think Naruto was this skilled. I thought Maya was the stronger of the two._ Kakashi thought. This was entirely strange, not to mention the transformation jutsu that was over Naruto's eyes. He noticed it a little earlier, but this was not the time to actually ask about it.

As the fight continued on, Kakashi noticed a few things. One, Naruto was getting tired. Sweat pouring down from his face, his movements becoming a little strained. The second, Zabuza had hidden himself underwater. But he realized Naruto had this information already, his eyes going down to the water. Kakashi knew that after this was over, he would have to look into this boy's past.

Soon all the water clones fell, leaving Naruto standing alone in on the water, save the other clone keeping Kakashi locked away. He was panting, trying hard to catch his breath. He was actually starting to regret staying up all night. Maybe he would need to release Kakashi himself. He looked at the clone, thinking of a few ways to do it. But before he could make a move he was forced back, something firing up at him.

Naruto growled, not liking the tactic the man was now using. He didn't have much time to think of anything, shuriken bursting out of the water underneath him. He evaded with a little trouble, his body feeling a lot heavier than normal. Naruto could tell exactly where the man was and knew a few ways to bring him out. Thing was, if he was to use a jutsu to do this, he would be out of the fight and open to any attack. Which was something Naruto didn't want to happen, at least until Kakashi was free.

His eyes snapped forward, another five clones coming to the surface. Naruto hummed, putting his sword into his mouth. _Want to play with clones? So be it. _Naruto thought making a hand sign. Two puff of smoke was let out at his side, two clones appearing once it was gone. They did not hesitate upon racing toward the clones, swords in hand. Naruto on the other hand stayed back, figuring it would not be required for him to join in. But it would seem Zabuza had different plans.

Naruto was once again forced to dodge more weapons from underneath him. Zabuza wasn't giving him a moment to rest, meaning that the man realized what state he was in. But if wanted to do ninja stuff, so be it.

Naruto dug into his pouch, drawing a kunai and an explosive tag. As he dodged the weapons, he rolled the tag around the hilt of his weapon. He molded his chakra, directing it into the tag as he leapt up, drawing another kunai secretly. He threw the both, the one without the tag directly below him and with it just about five feet to his left.

He wondered about the expression that appeared on Zabuza's face when the tag went off in front of him. He also had to reevaluate just how good this man was to escape it at that range under water. Maybe he should give his name to the man.

Naruto landed safely, water dropping down after an ear shattering boom with off. He paid no attention to it, his eyes staring directly ahead of him. He didn't know why, but his body was feeling weaker. His eyes came down to the large wound on his torso. Even as wet as he was, the blood kept flowing. Not to mention the wound on his shoulder. He probably should have paid attention to it, he wasn't sure how much blood he lost, nor did he know a good way to stop the bleeding without wrapping it up. _This is bad, I need to either kill him or free Kakashi. _

Naruto's eyes widen, his attention being brought to an image in his mind. With a quick burst of speed, the genin slid to his right, dodging a rising slash from Zabuza, who burst from the water. Naruto jumped up, rotating his body like a corkscrew. He swung his sword fast, slicing through the man's head.

"He did it!" Sakura cheered, hopping up. Her shout drew his eyes to her, oh how he wished he didn't. The clone burst in front of Naruto, the water splashing against him. He landed, his eyes on the real body of the ninja.

Zabuza performed his seals fast, suspecting the boy to try and stop him. He was right, a kunai flying right at him just as he got to his last needed snake seal. It seems like he was the faster one. _Water release: Crushing tidal wave _

Water rose from in front of the man, a wave shooting forward. It engulfed the kunai from what he saw, stopping the danger from it. He noticed the boy tried to leap over the attack, but his evasion came too late. The top of the wave smashed into him, pulling him with it as it traveled its course.

A shout of the boy's name rang out, from the brunette on the side lines as the liquid death smashed him into a tree. It held him there, the excess water pushing onto the land. After a few moments the water retracted, sliding back into the pond of original, leaving the boy to slide down the tree. Zabuza strode towards the genin, his body seemingly relaxed but ready for any attack from the kids on shore.

A grin came to his face, it took a little longer then he figured but he had finally taken this annoying boy down. He had to reevaluate him now, it was impossible for a genin to be like this. He had to be a chuunin, nothing else makes sense. Stopping just a few a meter in a half away from the boy, he pulled his sword out. "Pretty good boy. You're a step ahead of those genin." He said.

"Na-ruto."

"Hmm?" Zabuza let out, confused as to why he just said his name.

"My na-me is…Uzumaki, Naruto!" The boy shouted, almost as if wanting the world to know.

"Well then, Uzumaki Naruto. Good bye." Zabuza said, reeling his sword back. He was going to toss it but stopped, his instincts forged from years of training, urging him to get away. The traitor, began to move forward, just as sounds of something bursting from the water came to him.

Steel cut lightly into his back, the man moving fast enough that it wasn't fatal. He turned readying his sword to defend any type of continuing attacks. There were none, giving him a chance to recompose himself, and show his intimidating glare. _I keep underestimating this boy._ He thought, watching the now completely drenched boy get into his stance. And then without a word, he attacked.

Maya watched everything with calculating eyes. The two ninja were now fighting an open sword fight, with some shuriken and kunai thrown in the mix. At this point in time she could see how easily it was for Naruto to dodge the man's attacks. He refused to give him any type of space for the man to let loose another jutsu.

As she viewed them, she had to wonder about her friend. Where did he pull this skill from? Yeah she knew that he was good at reading and predicting a person's movement, but to a degree like this was not something she was used to seeing. He was dodging feigns left and right, dishing out damage with punches and kicks. In all honesty, Naruto was more aggressive then he has ever been. Well since he started learning her family's skills that is.

Her eyes moved back to the clone. She had to figure a way out for Kakashi. Naruto was doing well but he was becoming sluggish. He wouldn't last too much longer. She could try another sneak attack, but chances are what happened before would repeat and she would not be the cause of another wound being inflicted on the blonde. Using a jutus? She did not want to try, simply because of Naruto's erratic movement. The both of them were all over the place. She did not want to hit him.

Then the girl blinked, if she had Naruto by her side they could do it fairly easily. A smile appeared on her face, Maybe Aya could help. "Aya, come here for a moment." At her call, her cousin left her post, coming to her side.

"Yes?" Aya said.

Maya glanced at her, grinning. "I have a plan to free your sensei. But I'm going to need your help." Aya stared at her, gulping down nervously. She nodded, gripping the fabric of her pants. "Ok, here it is…"

Naruto flew back, his feet sliding against the water. Blood leaked from his mouth, the hilt of the man's sword being the cause. His eyes came to Zabuza who was now in front of him, sword raised diagonally. His mouth twitched, a hard tug on his shirt bringing him down into the water. He didn't need to look to know it was his clone, which allowed him to keep watch on Zabzua.

Naruto flipped in the water, the image of something not to his liking entering his mind. With a push from his clone, Naruto sped off popping out of the water just behind the advancing mist nin. He spun, using the most of his momentum to strike at his exposed neck. Zabuza turned, his eyes showing he expected this, and blocked with his sword.

_Got-cha_ Zabuza thought, a curved kunai in his free hand. He thrust his hand forward, planting the blade in Naruto's shoulder. The boy grunted before disappearing into smoke. His eyes went wide, another clone. A presence behind him caught his attention and he turned quickly, swinging his sword around.

The blade cut through air, the boy crouching low under it. His eyes came to him, the boy's face shadowed completely by shadows that had no place on his face. His eyes were tinted red, his pupils sharp as slits.

An overwhelming killing intent came over him, the boy moving fast. He found himself unable to move, the boy's sword cutting into his waist. Blood sprayed, the boy's blade slicing straight though his bone. No shout came from him, his throat seemingly swelled up. His torso fell, his surprise eyes locked on the boy's face. That unnatural shadow was still there, a ringing sound reaching his ears.

And then everything appeared as if it never happened, the boy now beginning his attack. Zabuza jumped back, dodging the fatal attack. Sweat poured down his face, his fingers twitching unconsciously. He stared in disbelief, this brat release so much killing intent that it actually made him see himself die. His hand came up, clutching his face as he looked at the water.

Naruto panted heavily, he fucked that up royally. He should have been able to slice him with that blow. _I'm getting sluggish. I'm in trouble._ Naruto watched the man, feeling like he would faint at any moment. His eyes went back to Kakashi, he wished they would free him already. Naruto eyes shot to Zabuza, a loud boisterous coming from the man.

Naruto was now back on guard, the blonde raising his sword up quickly to intercept the blade coming down on him. The water waved violently under him, the pressure of the attack transmitting through his body.

Naruto found it hard to stand but refused to give an inch. He held his own footing, gritting his teeth as he looked into the swordsman's eyes. Something seemed to have snapped in him or he just decided to take him serious. Either way it was rather exciting to the blonde.

A small grin appeared on Naruto's face, his eyes lighting up with energy that he thought he lost. His body was beginning to boil, as if a fire had once again been lit underneath him. He began to push back, tilting his sword as he did so. He would win this test of strength, if anything just to boost his ego. Then he will try and finish it again. If he failed, he would free Kakashi. Seriously Maya-chan was taking too long. He only planned to fight for three minutes, not five.

His was drawn from his musings, an scene playing out in his mind. He shifted his attention to the black haired genin in front of Tazuna. _Ah fuck me!_ He thought, feeling the weight of the sword pushing on him with more force. He was held in place, his own strength being nowhere enough to fend this guy off.

His eyes went back to the boy, watching as he began to move. "Teme! Don't you dare!" He shout came too late, the boy already up in the air, letting fly over a dozen shuriken toward the missing nin.

"Heh." Zabuza let out.

Naruto didn't need to guess why he sounded so pleased. Sasuke was going to get his ass kicked for this. Out of the corner of Naruto's eyes, he could see a set of blurs flying down from the tree lines. They smashed into the shuriken, altering their route of travel. Naruto's mouth twitched, he had to get away from Zabuza now or he would die.

With a quick shift of his blade, Zabuza's cool oversized one shifted, sliding off the blade. He barely had time to move before a kick sent him in the direction of the incoming projectiles. He twirled, preparing to deal with them in one great sweep. His eyes widen like saucers, another set of shuriken and kunai smashed into the one's Sasuke threw, altering their course once more.

He was fucked.

Naruto shielded himself the best way he could, effectively avoiding death by the projectiles. But he was left with numerous amounts of wounds. Two shuriken sliced into his left shoulder, one finding a nice comfy home there. A kunai and shuriken found its way into his left arm, the boy being forced to sacrifice it to avoid a fatal wound. His face was marked, a lone kunai cutting up vertically up the left side of his face. He was lucky it missed his eye by centimeters. His right cheek was the victim of a shuriken attack, one that reminded him of his teacher's habit. A shuriken and kunai was stuck in the boy's left thigh, both being fairly deep. He managed to catch one in-between his teeth, the middle of his lips bleeding from the sharp metal.

Landing on the water, Naruto found himself on his knee, the combination of the hit he received from Zabuza and the weapon assault enough to stun him for a moment. The kunai fell from his mouth, his eyes on Sasuke. Then they shifted, Zabuza appearing right behind him. Naruto knew it was already too late. He would need to recover quickly from this assault if he wanted to survive at least.

A kick to his side brought him off the surface of the water, a cracking sound reaching his ears. He moved to block the next attack, only for it to push through his defenses, nearly breaking his jaw. _Block! Block! Damn it Block!_ He thought, trying to block another punch, which he somehow managed to do. But upcoming strike with the hilt of the sword hit right in the middle of his forehead. This attacked brought him into the water below, his sight going black for a single moment.

Naruto saw the man's larger foot smash into his chest, sending him underneath the water's surface. Blood flew up into the water, a instant before water flooded in his mouth. Pain filled his senses as his vision became hazy. Because of this he couldn't see the hand that came down from the surface and grabbed his robe.

Then he was pulled up out of the water and held up by his ripped robes. His body was limp but his sword was secured in his hand. If he was to die here, he would save the last of his energy to take the man with him. "All talk." He heard, the man raising his sword up.

A moment later Naruto found himself back in the water, floating on his back. He coughed, blood coming from his mouth. His pulsing heart banged in his ears the sounds of the world being hidden from him. His vision was going in and out, but he was happy he hadn't lost consciousness all together.

With pure will power, Naruto gathered whatever chakra he could muster, sending it to his feet as he moved to get to his feet. It was hard, the blonde nearly falling back under water. It didn't help that blood was getting into his eye. He closed it, deeming it useless for now.

With a body feeling as heavy as lead, Naruto got to his knees. Blinking the haze from his eye, Naruto looked ahead, the form of his teammate entering his vision. "M-Maya-chan..?"

She didn't glance back, "You okay?"

Naruto noticed her body was shaking a bit. She was probably nervous or something. "I'm fine. He hits like a bitch."

A sigh left her mouth, the girls sword shifting. "Good to hear. I thought you might've given up after that."

"Heh!" Naruto let out weakly. "Please, I won't give up at anything until I grope every woman in this world."

He didn't see it but he knew she was smiling. At least he reassured her that he would survive this. He tried to stand only for the metal in his thigh to say hello to him, in quite a painful way. Naruto held in his grunt, glaring at the man who was standing off a bit away from them. "I'm going to kill him." Naruto said.

"Who Zabuza or Sasuke?" Maya asked shifting her eyes towards Sasuke a second.

The dark gleam sparked in Naruto's right eye. "Both."

Zabuza laughed, "Still talking big." Then he started some hand seals. Naruto growled, his body feeling like it was on fire. He gathered chakra for his final attack, channeling it into his sword.

"Naruto." At her whisper Naruto looked at her, the heat in his body dying down somewhat. "Aim for his clone."

"Tch." Naruto let out but nodded at her plan.

His attention came ahead of him again, water rising in front of the water ninja. It took the form of a large serpentine dragon with no real detail in its form. Frowning, Naruto stood up, turning slightly to get the clone in sight.

Maya swung her sword first, wordlessly unleashing her invisible wave upon the dragon that shot towards them. Naruto followed after her, sending his arcing slash at the clone.

When the water split apart in the wake of his attack, Naruto noticed the clone's attention being brought to it. It seemed to calculate how much room it had to dodge it before swinging his body backward. The wave flew passed it, the water jerking at the forced separation. Naruto hissed in displeasure, his aim was off. It was impossible to set a plan like this off again, especially now that they realize they could do such a thing.

Almost as soon as he thought this the clone exploded into water, releasing the jounin from its hold. Naruto's eyes went to Maya, seeing the dragon breath down in front of her. There was no way she did that, so then. Naruto looked over at the land, spotting Aya with her right arm extended. An exhausted smile came on his face, the boy dropping to his knees. _Good job…Aya-chan_

It was at that moment that Naruto realized that Zabuza was charging at them, his sword ready to cleave the both of them in half. He tried to move but found himself rooted, his body slowly sinking into the water. His energy was almost completely gone. He wouldn't be able to stay conscious much longer.

Coughing, Naruto noticed Zabuza stop his mad dash, the silver haired jounin intercepting him. He stood in front of the genin, his back to them. "You guys did well, especially you Naruto-kun. I didn't expect you to be so skilled."

Naruto coughed, it was hard to breath. "T-that's…what ev…eryone says."

"Maya-chan, you should take him to shore." Kakashi said. "He won't be able to stay up much longer."

Naruto's mouth twitched, "I-I c-can st.." his sentence was cut off, Maya placing her hand on his mouth.

"Alright. Make sure you don't get caught again. I don't think we can make a repeat performance of this." Maya said, putting Naruto's arm over her shoulder.

"I won't fail for the same jutsu twice." Kakashi replied.

"Good to hear." Maya said, before leaping away. Naruto grunted, each motion Maya made sending a jolt of pain through his body. "Sorry, just bear with it." She muttered.

Naruto opened one eye. "Jutsu."

Maya looked at him landing on the water, just as two large water forms collided. Maya was thrown into the air, the water smashing into her back. She recovered fairly easily. Showing off just how acrobatic she was, flipping in air and preparing to land. Water splashed on the land, seconds before her feet touched the ground. She was lucky the wave passed by an instant before she came down or she might have been on her face right now.

She leapt over to the closest tree, just in case more water techniques were used. She placed her injured friend against the wood in a sitting position, placing her sword down as well. His sword dropped down a second later alerting her that he had finally released it. That was so like him.

Rushing footsteps reached her ears and she turned back. It was Aya, not really surprising but she didn't expect her to leave her post so fast. It didn't matter. She looked back at Naruto, when Aya stopped by her side, kneeling. "Naruto!" She called, hysterically. Maya took the time to notice, her cousin placing the sheath to her nodachi on the ground.

She opened her mouth to calm her down but Naruto beat her to it. "Ah, A-Aya-chan my s -sweet. What's the matter?" His words were offset by his weakened tone.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It was my fault." Aya cried, tears swelling in her eyes. "I should have aimed better."

Naruto right hand came to her head, rustling her brown hair. "Heh, don't kid yourself. You did a good job." He coughed, jerking in pain. "Y-you mana-ged to get m-most of them away from me… a-and you reacted f-faster than Maya-chan did."

Maya's eye widen at the jab, "Hey! At least I helped."

Naruto chuckled lightly, jerking in pain. He lifted his left hand, placing it on top of her head. Maya felt her face heat up, this annoying gesture.

"I-I know, thanks." Naruto said.

Then his hands dropped his one opened eye closing. Maya quickly grabbed his hand, checking his pulse. It was weak; he lost a lot of blood and used a lot of chakra. "We need to stop the bleeding." She said. Aya nodded, going in her pouch. She bought bandages it seems. That was good because she didn't bring any.

Maya started quickly, deciding the extract the projects. She reached for the weapons in his shoulder; she grabbed them just as another wave of water hit the earth. "Ah!" She let out, her hand forcing the bladed weapon from his arm. His eyes snapped opened, the pain forcing him to let out a grunt of pain.

They managed to hold their spots as the water passed, Maya's eyes going over to water. From what she could see, Zabuza was now up against a tree, a kunai in his arms and legs. Kakashi was on a branch above him, looking down with a kunai raised, ready to finish him off. _The fight is over….so fast! I missed it!_ Maya thought in dismay.

But then something unexpected happened. Two long needles flew from nowhere, going through his neck. Surprise rose in her, her eyes going to the tree branch a lone figure was standing on. It wasn't that far from her current position but she wondered how she missed him.

"Hehe…you're right. He's dead." The masked boy said playfully. As he spoke Maya took in his appearance. He was taller than her, seemingly a few years older His face is not in view, being hidden behind a mask with swirl decoration across it and a mist symbol just above the squinted eyes. He has black hair, styled in a bun like hair due.

His outfit consisted of a green kimono top and a sweater under it. A dark sash is wrapped around his waist holding the kimono top closed. A pair of brown shorts covered most of his legs, coming just under his knees.

Maya grabbed her sword and sheath, standing up from her position. Her eyes were on the new comer, watching him closely. She did not need anything else happening to her blonde friend. "Thank you very much. I have been searching for the opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time." The boy said.

"That mask…You're a kirigakure hunter nin." Kakashi said. Maya noticed his glance at her or more specifically her hand that tightened on her sword.

"Impressive you are correct." He said.

"Hunter nin, huh?" Maya asked looking at needles in Zabuza's neck. Kakashi looked at her with a curious glance before looking back at him.

"Yes it is my duty to hunt down missing-nins. I'm a member of the hidden mist's hunter nin team." The hunter nin said.

"Heh, I bet you are pretty proud. Stealing someone's prey and reveling in their defeat." Maya said. The hunter ninja, stared at her.

"Sorry…but it is my job to do as such." He said. That's when Kakashi got up, making his way over to Maya.

"You could have wa…" She stopped, Kakashi placing his hand on her head.

"Relax. One's duty usually comes first." He said. She looked up at him, her eyes narrowed. She sheathed her sword before slapping his hand off her head.

"…Don't do that." She said, turning back to Naruto. She missed the confused look on his face.

Maya watched the boy from the corner of her eyes as he disappeared from his spot and moved to the corpse of Zabuza. "Your battle is now over…. And now I must dispose of the body. Since it seems to have many secrets." The boy said picking up the body.

Then he made a seal, disappearing in a swirl of leaves. _So….He was right. That hunter ninja was a fake._ Maya thought.

"Maya." Aya whispered. Maya looked at her. "The needles that he used, I saw a few of them hit Sasuke shuriken when he threw them."

Maya nodded, looking back at Naruto. In the time that she had her attention on the ninja, Aya had removed all the weapons from his body and his shirt. She was currently wrapping his injuries up.

"Haa!" Kakashi let out, drawing Maya's attention back to him. He had just pulled his forehead protector down to cover his sharingan. "Now we have to wait for Anko." Kakashi said.

"Yeah. Super thanks guys. When she comes back, we can all head to my house and rest awhile." Tazuna cheered his hand on his hat. At that moment Kakashi fell forward. Because of his close proximity to Maya, he avoided hitting the ground, the girl catching him. Though she found him a little heavy and lowered him to the ground.

"Huh! Sensei! What's wrong!?" Sakura let out, rushing towards him.

Maya frowned, upset with the whole situation. "Damn it, we have an injured genin and an out of commission jounin. Where is Anko-sensei when you need her?" She stood, letting out another sigh.

As if hearing the question, the purple haired jounin walked out from the opposite side of the clearing, a frown on her face. It was easy to see that she had a pretty hard battle, her coat being cut in several places. A shallow wound was on her face and hand. "Sensei." Maya let out.

Anko raised her hand, walking over to them. "Hey…." Then she stopped finally able to see the state of her male student and Kakashi. "What the fuck happened here?" her eyes narrowed, her student had seven more wounds the she left him with.

Maya let out a sigh, thank goodness Anko wasn't immobile. "I can fill you in on the way to Tazuna's house." She saw her nod, walking over to them. Maya turned to Aya who was applying the finishing touches on her first aid. She noticed that the white bandages were already soaked red with his blood.

"You two pick up Kakashi." Maya heard her sensei said. She looked back at her just as she stopped in front of Naruto. "Damn it." She muttered, kneeling down and picking up the boy, bridal style.

"Wait…I'll.." Aya sentence was cut off, Anko gaze being enough to stop her.

"Tazuna, lead the way." She said.

The man nodded and pointed. "This way." He said and began walking. The team walked after him, Anko and Maya taking his right side while the others were on his right.

Maya looked at her teacher, "Did you get him?"

Anko glanced down at her, shaking her head. "Hn…he managed to escape."

Maya could only sigh, this was an all-around bad day. "Now…start explaining why Naruto is in this condition." Anko said impatiently.

Wow…first time Anko said his name. Maya rubbed the back of her next, "Well it happened like this." Maya started.

An hour later

They reached his house without any more trouble. They were let in by woman, who they soon found out was his daughter. Her name was Tsunami, she was 29 years old. She seemed to be a very caring woman from the way she ushered them inside the house. With a little explaining, Kakashi was set up with a futon to rest on and it was discovered he was faking being unconscious, probably out of fear of the tongue lashing Anko would give.

Thanks to Tazuna, Maya was able to use a guess room for Naruto, though she had to tell a little lie. Tsunami was the one who lead them to it. She opened the door, allowing Anko, Maya, and Aya into it.

The room had the basic essential such as a bed just under the window, a desk against the left wall, and a closet to the right of the bed.

"Thank you." Aya said, giving a small bow.

"I should be thanking you. You escorted and protected my father here." Tsunami said, returning the bow.

Maya was quick to draw out her scroll. She opened it swiftly, laying it on the floor. She gathered her chakra into her hand before pressing the seal. In a puff of smoke, which surprised Tsunami, her bag appeared with Naruto's sleeping back tied to it. She unstrapped the bag and rolled it on the ground. She unzipped it, opening it before looking at her teacher.

She watched Anko walk over to the bag, placing Naruto down carefully. She sat down at his side, looking at the bandages. Maya turned her head to the door, hearing it close. Aya moved over to them, sitting down by Anko's side.

"He lost a good amount of blood." Anko stated, her finger touch his face. His skin was looking slightly pale.

"Is there anything we can do?" Aya asked. Anko glanced at her before shaking her head.

"No….we will have to wait and see for now." Anko said. "Since he does not seem to have gone into shock, it's good enough to say that he hasn't lost a great amount."

"Then he should be back on his feet with a few days." Maya said, with a light sigh. Anko looked at her, humming. Did she know his secret?

"If he's lucky." Anko responded.

Maya looked at her, placing her hand on Naruto chest. "He's very lucky."

Anko looked down at Naruto, sighing. "I hope so." She muttered.

End Chapter 3

Alright I had some problems with this chapter. I figured I'll make a mission before this one but I couldn't come up with a good one. I literally wrote five versions to this chapter. Not finding a good first mission, I figured I'll start off with this one. Also I decided to do at least two more missions before the chuunin exams. So if anybody has any good ideas for a second mission please don't hesitate to tell me.

Another thing. I have this sort of idea about taking characters from one anime and putting them in another. I think that the only time a character's personality should stay the same is when they are literally taken out of the anime. Like if Naruto was to somehow get transferred into bleach anime or any other after he died or after a set amount of time. Now in this story's case Maya and Aya was not so much taken and put in it at a certain point but they were born in konoha and grew up in konoha. So their personalities would be affected by who they were around, what they experience, who they interacted with and so on. Now if you were to take some experiences out things would change. For example, if you gave Naruto a caring family and some true friends he mostly would not have turned out like he did in cannon. He would no longer do the things he does for attention because he has some from his family and friend to give him that. Another example, lets say that the Uchiha Massacre didn't happen and Itachi remained the good brother he pretended to be. Sasuke would not be how he is, which is a emo. He mostly would be a normal kid of the Uchiha clan still with his desire to be stronger than Itachi.

Now lets put it in this case where in Tenjou Tenge Maya wasn't so violent and in here she is, this is because of a direct experience with Naruto growing up to her age. Her interactions with Naruto would change certain things about her as well as Naruto. It would be the same with Aya and everyone else. Something's will change and some will stay the same. Like Aya being jealous of Maya you will see a lot of during the story. Why? Because of her and Naruto's relationship. No matter how he acts around Aya she realizes that him and Maya is closer, and they will spend more time together then Naruto and Aya will.

Another thing I think I'm going to do is give Maya a lot of Mokuton jutsu. Not like the first hokage of Yamato where they can actually create wood but hers would be to manipulate wood near her.

Another thing If anyone would like to join in on my forum just go to my profile for the link


	4. Wave part 2

Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Naruto or Tenjou Tenge**

"Normal talking"

"**Demon/Summoning talking"**

'Normal thinking' scenario

'**Demon/ inner Sakura thinking'**

* * *

_Two blades clashed loudly in a field. A much older Naruto pushed forward before jumping back. He growled as he looked at the person in front of him. For some reason he couldn't tell who the person was. He couldn't see the person's face or even the person's gender. Naruto panted hard before the person dashed at him. He ran at the person as well ready to finish it. They rushed at each other and in a flash they both appeared behind each other their backs turn. Naruto looked back as the person turned. Naruto could see the person's mouth as blood exploded from three wounds on Naruto's chest. He fell to his knees slowly. A sinister smile came on the person's face as Naruto glared at hard as he could in his state. Naruto panted hard before falling face first on the ground as the person walked in front of him. The person raised the blade before plunging it into Naruto back. _

Naruto suddenly opened his one eye with fear written all over his face. He sat up shaking, his pupil in a narrowed slit, glowing red. He panted as he looked down at the blankets. After a few seconds he looked up with his vision blurry. 'Damn it.' He thought trying to stand only to fall back on his butt. 'Relax…only a dream…or whatever.' He thought moving his hand to his head. After a few minutes his breathing calmed down and he took a good look at the room. 'Where am I?' He thought.

He stood up noticing that his chest and shoulder is covered with bandages and his left side of his face is also covered. He blinked before unwrapping the bandages around his face. 'That's better.' He thought after he finished. He blinked a few times as he looked around. He noticed his bag near the closet and moved over to it. He quickly opened it and took out a pair of black pants and a red shirt. He quickly put them on before picking up his katana that was next to the bag. He looked around the room as the door opened. Naruto put a genjutsu over his eyes quickly before turning to the door.

Maya blinked as she looked at Naruto. "What are you doing up? You need to heal." Maya said. Naruto smiled at her before stretching.

"I'm fine, everything is healed." Naruto said.

"Hmph." She let out closing the door. "Take off your shirt." Maya said.

"Eh! Maya-chan I know how you feel and everything but we are simply too young." Naruto said with a shocked expression. "Maybe in a few…Oww" He let out as he was punched.

"You god damn idiot. You know what I mean by it!" Maya yelled glaring at him with a blush.

"Okay, okay, just joking." Naruto said rubbing his cheek. Naruto quickly took off his shirt and tossed it over to the futon. Maya took a good look at Naruto clean bandages and sighed.

'At least his wounds didn't reopen.' She thought. Naruto raised his arms up as Maya moved closer to him. Maya shook her head as she started to unwrap his bandages. She let the bandages pool at his feet as she slowly took it off. Naruto looked into her eyes blushing as she looked down at his bandages.

'Relax.' He thought as his heart pounded. After she was done she examined Naruto's body. She touched his chest tracing his healing slash mark going from his should down to his waist. She moved her finger to his shoulder where he was cut when Zabuza appeared. She traced over the middle of his chest before going to his ribs. Hearing him laugh a little she shook her head.

"Sternum seems to be okay, so does your ribs. Hm….The wounds on your chest and shoulder are healing very fast as normal." Maya said looking at his face then tracking the line from above his left eye to his cheek where he was cut. "The wound on your face is completely healed…." Maya said before crouching down and lifting up his left pants leg. She looked at the now red bandages wrapped around his thigh. She quickly removed them to see no marks on him. "Your leg is healed…" Maya said before letting it go and standing up. "It took only a half a day…But you should still take it easy….The wounds on your chest could still reopen….They aren't closed all the way." Maya said reapplying the bandages around his chest.

"Don't worry about it…So where is everyone?" Naruto asked.

"Anko-sensei is watching Tazuna. Team 7 is still down stairs I think. I'm supposed to make sure you rest fully" Maya said moving back from him. Naruto smiled at her as he grabbed his shirt.

"But I don't wanna rest." Naruto whined. "I need to train." Naruto said. Maya looked at him and shook her head.

"Haa, it's also a part of your training to foster up the courage to rest your body." Maya said getting closer to him again. Naruto blinked as she pressed her head to his. "You are still pretty beat up. Just give your wounds time to heal." Maya said. Her head glowed lightly with her chakra as she closed her eyes. Naruto blushed before he quickly backed away blushing.

"Wha-what are you doing?" He asked quickly. Maya blinked confused before leaning back.

"It's a method of speeding up your cell regeneration. My mother taught it to me." Maya said.

'I-I thought for a moment she was going to kiss me.' He thought as his heart pounded furiously in his chest. Naruto nodded not trusting his voice. Naruto started to put back on his shirt as Maya frowned.

"Wait." She said. Naruto stopped and looked at her as she went over to her bag in the corner. She opened it and dug inside. Naruto watched as she pulled out a chain mail shirt.

"Um…what's…." Naruto stopped as she turned around and moved towards him.

"No questions. Just put it on." Maya said. Naruto blinked and looked at it.

"But that's yours." Naruto said.

"I have more then one. Now put it on." She said forcing it into Naruto's arms. Naruto looked at it before dropping his shirt and putting the chain mail shirt on. "Why you didn't wear one before I don't know." Maya said.

"I don't like how they feel." Naruto said.

"Still they will help defend against slashes and stab attacks." Maya said.

"Right but with sharper weapons and chakra they can cut right through." Naruto said.

"But if you add chakra to it you can block them." Maya said. Naruto smiled at her picking up his shirt.

"But….Alright." Naruto said sighing.

"Lets get you something to eat." Maya said.

"Alright." Naruto said as she opened the door and walked out the room. Naruto followed after her grabbing his katana on the way.

"So this is Tazuna's house?" Naruto asked walking down the hall to the stair.

"Yeah we came after Kakashi finished the fight with Zabuza." Maya said. Naruto narrowed his eyes with a sigh.

"Stupid emo-bitch interfering with my battle. When I see him I'm going to fuck him up." Naruto mumbled.

"Good luck with that." Maya said looking at him. She looked forward as they reached the living room. Tsunami stopped seeing them enter and smiled.

"Hello. It seems that you are…" Tsunami stopped looking down at Naruto who had just grabbed her hand. Maya blinked before looking behind her surprised.

'He moved so fast.' She thought.

"My beautiful star, how wonderful it is that you are here to brighten my day." Naruto said before kissing her hand. Tsunami blinked staring at him.

"um…." Tsunami started.

"Please my sweet, may I be graced with your name?" Naruto asked. Tsunami blinked again as she blushed a little.

"Tsunami." She said.

"Ah! Tsunami-chan. What a beautiful name that belongs to the beautiful woman whom sweeps my heart away." Naruto said smiling.

"…heheh. Um Naruto-san I think I'm a little to old for you." Tsunami said.

"….Tsunami-chan please don't play with my heart….You can't be older then seventeen." Naruto said. Maya eyes twitched before she had enough. Before Tsunami could answer she grabbed Naruto by his ear and dragged him towards the door.

"Ow, ow, ow." He let out as he was pulled.

"Sorry about him. Um did Team 7 leave already?" She asked opening the door.

"Yes a few minutes ago." Tsunami said. Maya nodded before pulling Naruto out the door. Tsunami blinked before looking at her hands.

'Do I really look that young?' She thought.

"What is wrong with you Naruto? Do you just flirt with every female you see?" Maya asked angrily.

"No…just the cute ones...and I thought we were getting something to eat?" Naruto said.

"Hmph." Maya let out throwing back an apple she seemingly got from nowhere. Naruto smiled as he caught it.

"Don't tell me you're jealous. Oh and Thanks." Naruto said.

"Oh please." Maya said. "Who could be jealous over you?" She asked. Naruto's head dropped as he let out a low sigh.

"I was hoping, you." He whispered.

"Hn, you say something?" She asked.

"Nope, nothing at all." Naruto said smiling just before taking a bite of the apple. He got out of her grip and stood up before walking behind her. "So where are we going?" Naruto asked.

"We are going to find a nice place for me to train." Maya said leading him into the forest.

"Yes! We are going to train." Naruto shouted in joy following her.

"Um….No I'm training you're resting." Maya said.

"But Maya-chan!" Naruto whined.

"Stop being a baby." Maya said.

"But if I don't train I won't get any stronger." Naruto said.

"If you keep training without resting then your body will never recover thus weakening you." Maya explained. Naruto blinked and stared at her.

"Um…That I know….but I don't think that would apply to me." Naruto said.

"And why is that?" Maya asked.

"Um…You know why." Naruto said. Maya blinked before looking at him then his stomach.

"Even so….Some of your wounds will take longer to heal and they could get worst." Maya said.

"If you say so…." Naruto said. "So what happened after I fainted?" Naruto asked.

"Kakashi attacked Zabuza and using his Sharingan he defeated him. Just when he was about to kill him he was hit with needles in his neck." Maya explained looking forward. "Kakashi check him saying he was dead and the hunter nin who did it took his body and left." Maya said.

"Well…damn. I wanted to kill him….I actually thought the hunter ninja was helping him." Naruto said looking up.

"You knew?" Maya asked looking at him suspiciously.

"Yea I saw the needles hit the shuriken." Naruto said. Maya blinked at him.

"Anyway when Kakashi woke up he confirmed my suspicions." Maya said.

"You're suspicions?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. My uncle was a hunter ninja….so he taught both me and Aya something, you know." Maya said.

"Yea but what were you're suspicions? Cyclops checked him, so he's dead right?" Naruto asked.

"That's the thing. Needles have a very low killing rate. Only when they hit a vital area will they kill. Somebody proficient with them can do a lot. Hunter-nins know the body structure thoroughly so it would be easy for them to put him in a death state." Maya said. Naruto blinked before rubbing his head.

"You know you're very smart." Naruto said.

"Thanks." Maya replied.

"But we can't just say that. He could really be blood thirty. You know. It possible that he wanted him alive for…." Naruto started.

"I doubt it." Maya said. "But even if it's true we can't deny the possibility that Zabuza could be alive." Maya said. Naruto nodded before smiling.

"…I get a second chance at him." Naruto said smirking evilly.

"I don't think so." Maya said. "Kakashi or Anko-sensei might decide to take him." Maya said. Naruto huffed as they walked for about five minutes before coming to an area where a pond was. Maya looked around before smiling.

"This place will do fine." Maya said.

"Fine in deed." Naruto said smiling.

"Nice try, just sit by the tree." Maya said pointing to one on her right.

"But Maya-chan I can't just watch you train." Naruto whined again. Maya blinked at him.

"Fine then do some non-strenuous excise." Maya said.

"Like what?" Naruto asked.

"….Hmm, I got it." Maya said. "Follow me." Maya said before walking towards the water. Naruto looked at her before following her. He noticed that she was charging chakra to her feet and did the same. She stepped on the surface of the water as Naruto did the same. He followed her to the middle of it and stopped as she turned to him. "Alright sit." Maya said. Naruto blinked again and sat down with his legs cross. Maya sat down also in the same position right after him.

"Okay so what are we going to do?" Naruto asked.

"You remember when father was teaching us how to manipulate water for mother's water jutsu? The push and pull affect?" Maya asked.

"Yeah but….Oh okay…but we already did it." Naruto said.

"So…we can make a contest out of it. If you win I'll let you train and if lose you lay over there and do nothing. We'll only do the push affect" Maya said. Naruto smiled at her before placing his forehead protector back on.

"You're on." Naruto said. Maya smiled before placing her hands on the water. Naruto did the same before adding chakra to his hands. "10 feet tall." Naruto said.

"Alright. The first to run out loses." Maya said. Naruto nodded and got ready.

"One." He said.

"Two." Maya replied.

"Three." The both said pushing chakra into the water. Ten towers of water rose up surrounding them. Maya stared at Naruto forehead protector and focused on her hand.

"You know Maya-chan, my chakra stores are larger then yours." Naruto said smiling.

"Yes…But you have to concentrate more also." Maya said smirking.

"So?" He said.

Team 7

"Okay now I'm going to teach you a way to control the most important thing a ninja has... their chakra" Kakashi said

"Okay but how?" Sakura asked.

"Chakra is the most important weapon to a Shinobi, if you can control it you won't use more chakra then you need to for jutsus and such. If you can learn this you'll be all the better at using jutsu and techniques, that require chakra" Kakashi said as he walked up to a tree and he stopped at the tree and closed his visible eye, and dirt swirled around his feet and he put one foot on the tree and then the other and began to effortlessly walk up the tree. The copy-nin found his way to the bottom of a branch and looked down at them as he hung upside down "Focusing chakra at the bottom of your feet is the hardest place to focus it, if you can get this down, I'll teach you an even better way to control your chakra and jutsu" he said "now... you try...but take a running start"

Kakashi threw three kunai down into the ground in front of them "use those to cut the trunk at your highest point and try to beat it the next time, and then so on and so forth" he instructed

Sasuke, Sakura grabbed a kunai and made a hand seal. They channeled chakra into their feet and sprinted towards the tree. Sasuke ran up about ten steps and on the last one his foot created a foot shaped dent in the bark and the tree, and he slashed a mark before flipping down and landing.

'I didn't know maintaining a constant amount of chakra would be this hard. If I use too much chakra I get repelled… and most likely if I use too little, I won't stick to it.' Sasuke thought.

"This is easier than I thought." Sakura said. Sasuke, Aya and Kakashi looked toward her as she sat on a high branch.

'Just as I thought. She does have low chakra capability. But what about…' Kakashi looked at Aya would was looking up and the tree. "Aya-chan why don't you try?" Kakashi said.

"Kakashi-sensei I already learned this." Aya said. Kakashi blinked and stared at her.

"Show me." He said. Aya nodded before making a quick seal. She charged chakra to the soles of her feet before walking towards the tree. She placed on foot on the tree just when she reached it and started walking up the tree. She walked up as high as Sakura was before walking on the bottom of a branch 'I see.' Kakashi thought. "Alright…." He said before looking at Sasuke. "It seems like you are the only one here who isn't able to make it. It seems that the Natsume clan is more talented." Kakashi said. Sasuke glared at him before glaring at Aya and Sakura.

"KAKASHI SENSEI SHUT UP!" Sakura yelled.

'She's loud' Aya thought.

In a wooden fortress

In a cone shaped house in the middle of the forest, Zabuza was laying and resting in his bed with a blanket over him. A boy with black hair tied in a bun is sitting in a chair next to the bed. He is wearing a striped turtle neck and pants. He has on a blue robe over his turtle neck. His has brown eyes and looked to be fourteen. He looked over Zabuza who was looking at the ceiling. He heard the door open and hearing three people walk inside the room. Gatou is in the middle of his two body guards. On his left was a man with an eye patch over his right eye. He has no shirt on and has tattoos on both arms. He has a kimono on and the top is rolled downward to his waist. He is gripping his Katana with his right hand. The man on his left is wearing a coat and black shorts. He has long whitish hair and has a black hat on. He has a katana strapped to his left side. "So even you have come back defeated. It looks like mist country ninjas are pretty pathetic." Gatou said. "You can't even avenge your men? And you call your self the devil? Don't make me laugh" He added walking closer.

Both of his bodyguards moved in front of him ready to draw their swords. 'An attack?' The boy thought. One started to unsheathe his blade but was stopped by Gatou.

"Hold on a second…" He said moving towards Zabuza. "Hey… There no need to stay silent." He said reaching for Zabuza's neck. Zabuza looked at him with a glare as his hand came closer. "How about.." He started as a hand gripped his wrist. Gatou turned towards the boy and looked into his cold eyes.

"Don't touch Zabuza-san with your dirty hands." He said angrily.

"Gu…You" He said trying to move back. His two body guards started to draw their blades drawing the boy's attention towards them. He appeared in the middle of them with their katana towards both of their necks.

'No way… moved in an instant.' The one with the black cap said.

"You shouldn't do that… I pissed off right now." He said with colder eyes.

"One more time! If you fail one more time you won't be welcome here anymore. Remember that." Gatou said before rushing out with his body guards.

"Haku you didn't have to do that." Zabuza said lifting you the blanket so he could see the kunai.

"I agree. I then I wouldn't be the one to kill." A voice said. The konoha missing nin appeared from the shadows with a smirk.

"I know but it's too early too kill Gatou. If we caused a commotion they will be after us again. We must be patient." Haku said.

"Yeah" Zabuza said.

"I guess." The missing nin said. He eyes turned cold as he looked at them. "So how long are you going to be in bed….I have my mission and my mission rest on your mission." He said.

"About a week." Haku said.

"Hn that's good." He said before disappearing.

"I don't trust him." Haku said with darkening eyes.

"Hn, we will use him either way." Zabuza said.

Naruto and Maya.

Both Naruto and Maya panted as they maintained their focus. Two water towers remained behind Naruto shrinking fast as two in a half towers remained behind Maya. The half one was slowly decreasing in size as she panted. She smirked as Naruto struggled to keep his towers up. "What…did I tell…you?" Maya asked panting. Naruto growled before clenching his teeth tight.

"Hi-ah" He yet out pouring more chakra into the water. His water towers stopped shrinking as he sweated. "Don't…underestimate….m…ee" He left out before falling forward into the water. Maya blinked before stopping her chakra flow and rushing towards Naruto as he sank. She grabbed him quickly and turned him around.

"Hey! Hey! What are…" She stopped noticing that the water towers were still up. She looked down at Naruto just as he smiled.

"I...win." He said panting. Maya's eyebrow twitched before she sighed.

"Sure….but you cheated." Maya panted out before pulling him from the water.

"….So? You do…it all the…time." Naruto said as the water towers fell.

"….Sure I do." She said sarcastically. "…Can you stand?" She asked. Naruto turned his head toward her before placing his feet on the water. He managed to stand on it sinking a little.

"…I probably…should rest." Naruto said. He moved forward as Maya let go of him.

"That's what I was saying earlier." Maya said following after him. Naruto wobbled a little after he got to the land. He quickly moved over to a tree and sat down leaning back on the tree. Maya shook her head before sitting down next to him. She took a deep breath before leaning against Naruto. 'I'm really….' She thought before falling asleep.

Maya eyes snapped open as she and Naruto suddenly moved to action. Naruto drew his sword from his seated position while Maya moved up for a kick. The person in front of them smirked quickly pulling out a kunai to block Naruto's katana and blocked Maya's kick. "Well at least you two are light sleepers." A feminine voice rang out. Maya blinked looking at the woman and sighed.

"Anko-sensei what are you doing here?" She asked moving her foot back catching herself. Naruto moved his blade and sheath it before yawning loudly.

"…The question is what are you still doing here?" Anko asked. Maya tilted her head confused before noticing it was dark out.

"What time is it?" She asked.

"About 8." Anko said before looking at Naruto. "Why aren't you back at the house?" she asked.

"Because I'm fine…and now I'm hungry." Naruto said standing up.

"So then tomorrow I will not show you any slack." Anko said.

"That's good." He replied as Maya stood and stretched out. She yawned before looking at Anko.

"We should get moving." Maya said.

"Says the one who was taking a cat nap." Anko said. Maya ignored her before starting to walk. Naruto walked after her pulling up his forehead protector. He yawned as Anko walked after them.

'My chakra is back at least. My wounds should be nearly healed by now.' Naruto thought.

"We're taking to the trees." Anko said before jumping up. Maya and Naruto jumped up also and leap across the trees. Naruto hand went across his chest feeling jolts of pain every time he landed.

Five minutes later they landed in front of Tazuna's house. Maya and Anko landed first while Naruto landed after them. He fixed his shirt as Maya walked towards the house. Naruto walked after her shaking his head before rubbing his eyes. Anko reached the out grabbing both of them. She pulled them back and leaned over. Maya and Naruto looked at her as she took a serious expression. "Listen carefully. Tomorrow morning we are going to start our true mission. You are to eat fully and wake up at four. You are to meet me where you were sleeping at. If you are any later then four thirty then there will be hell to play…I will teach you guys the truth art of assassination. And this will be the only time." Anko whispered. They both nodded and Anko let Maya go. Maya started to walk and stopped noticing she was the only one. "Go ahead Maya. I want to speak with Naruto alone." Anko said.

"Alright." Maya said before walking ahead.

"Everyone should be in the dinning room." Anko said. Maya nodded just as she reached the door. Once she was inside Anko glared hard at Naruto. "So tell me….what convinced you to fight Zabuza?" She asked.

"…..Well Kakashi was caught and…."

"You fought him alone." Anko said.

"He is a swordsman. What can you expect from me? When somebody has a sword it is only right to fight one on one." Naruto said.

"What are you a samurai or a ninja?" Anko asked.

"…A ninja swordsmen." Naruto said after a long pause. Anko blinked at him before cracking a smile.

"Sure Naru-chan. But remember you are a ninja foremost. The mission comes first, even if you have to swallow your honor to get the job done. So no more of that…or I will hurt you." Anko said. Naruto sighed before nodding. "Good…..And you did a great job." She said patting his head. "Who would have thought you was skilled enough to fight a jounin with a sword evenly." Anko said smiling. Naruto blushed at the praise as Anko walked around him and towards the house. Naruto walked after her smiling brightly.

They got into the house and walked into the dinning room. "Ah Naruto-kun your back." Tsunami said. Everyone turned to Naruto and Anko. Aya jumped up upon seeing Naruto and dashed at him stopping right in front of him before look at different areas of his body and quickly switching.

"Are you alright? Are you wounds fully healed? Did they reopen? Any new ones?" Aya asked very quickly.

"Aya-chan I'm fine." Naruto said quickly stopping her. "Just relax." Naruto said. He looked around seeing Maya shaking her head. He saw Kakashi on the opposite side of the table next to Sasuke. His eyes zoned in on Sasuke before he took on a thoughtful look. "Hn…." Naruto let out.

"What's wrong?" Aya asked.

"I don't know." Naruto said before walking over to the other side of the table near Sasuke. "It on the tip of my tongue but I can't seem to get it." Naruto said before sitting down on Sasuke's left.

'Oh god.' Maya said before placing her hand on her head.

"Maybe it wasn't important." Kakashi said.

"No, no I fairly certain it is….You know what I remember now." Naruto said.

"Then what was it?" Sakura asked as he looked at Sasuke. He smirked as he clutched his fist tightly before relaxing completely.

"You're alive." He said. Everything became deathly silent as they stared at him.

"Wha..ack!" Sasuke let out as he was caught with a hook. He flew back towards the wall as Naruto got up quickly.

"Sasuke-Kun!" Sakura yelled out as he hit the wall cracking it. Naruto spun once before bringing his foot around. Sasuke looked at Naruto a second before his foot hit his cheek. He was send towards the door as Anko opened the door. Sasuke flew out side as Naruto ran after him. Everyone stood in shocked.

"You think Naruto really is going to kill him?" Aya asked.

"Yea." Maya said before jumping up and running out. Aya and Sakura ran after her as Kakashi stood up as quickly as he could. He took his crunches and stood up. Anko on the other hand smiled as she walked out and sat down on the porch. Sasuke shook his head and he stood up. Blood trickled down his chin as Naruto stopped with a glare.

"I'll kill you." Sasuke said.

"Hn…Come try bitch." Naruto growled out. Sasuke crouched down before quickly drawing and throwing shuriken at Naruto. Naruto narrowed his eyes before waving his hand just as the shuriken reached him. He smacked them away easily confusing Sasuke. He growled before dashing at Naruto. He reached him quickly throwing a right hook. Naruto leaned back dodging it and lifted his hand up as a jab came at him. Naruto caught his hand before jumping up and kicking him in his chest. He let go of his hand as Sasuke was forced back. He landed and smiled before dashing at Sasuke.

"Naruto! Stop!" Aya yelled out as Naruto jumped up spinning. Sasuke ducked under his kick and threw a punch just as Naruto landed. Naruto crouched down dodging it.

"Oh it's fine. Let them fight." Anko said.

"I don't think this is a good idea." Maya said as Sasuke was kicked back.

"Yes, yes it is." Anko said giving Maya a serious stare.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled out. Sasuke growled and did a few hand seals. Naruto raised an eyebrow with a frown.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi shouted

"That's not a good idea emo-bitch." Naruto growled.

'Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!' Sasuke thought exhaling a fireball. Naruto's growled out as he did a set of hand seals.

"Naruto!" Aya shouted as the fireball engulfed him.

"I wonder why he didn't….." Anko stopped and looked back. "Oh okay." She said. Sasuke smirked watching the flames. His smirk turned to a frown as the flames blown outward. Naruto stood there with his legs spread and bent slightly only his shirt had a few burn marks on it. Wind circled around him as his hands are in a dragon seal.

"Bastard." Naruto growled. Anko narrowed her eyes at him.

'That amount of chakra.' Anko thought.

"This jutsu,…is he.." Maya said causing Anko to look at her.

"Maya. Stop him." Anko said. Maya was already up by the time Anko said something and quickly dashed at Naruto.

"Fuuton: Gou…." Naruto stopped closing his eyes wincing as a jolt of pain went through his chest. Blood stained his bandages as he opened his eyes more wind spiraling around his arm. "Ka….Huh!" Naruto let out as his right arm was grabbed. He didn't have time to look to his side as he was flipped. Naruto landed hard on his back and looked up as his chakra and wind dissipated.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Maya asked angrily with a glare.

"What does it look like?" He asked with a glare. He tried to sit up only to have Maya's foot planted on his chest. She pushed him down and glared at him as he tried to ignore the pain.

'Hn….I need to look up who trained him…' Anko thought.

"Sasuke." Kakashi said narrowing his one eye at him.

"Hn." Sasuke let out looking back defiantly. He walked back into the house wiping his chin with Sakura following after him. Kakashi looked towards Anko who was staring at Maya who had straddled Naruto's chest and was using her knees to stop him from moving his arms.

"Anko, Control your student." Kakashi said.

"Hn…Maybe you should control yours. After all it was his fault my student ended up the way he did." Anko said turning to him with a glare. Kakashi turned from her and headed into the house. Anko looked at Aya who was staring hard at the two of the.

"You idiot. What were you trying to do? Kill Sasuke?" Maya asked lowly.

"Well yes. That was the plan." Naruto said. Maya flicked his nose hard causing him to glare at her.

"Listen up. You are not to do anything else stupid on this mission. I will be ticked if something goes wrong and we are forced to do some chores around the village." Maya said. "Do you understand?" Maya asked.

"Define stupid." Naruto said.

"Anything that I don't give the okay on." Maya said.

"Yeah…but you are known to do stupid stuff as well." Naruto said. Maya stared at him before bouncing on his chest. "Ow. What the hell that hurts." Naruto growled.

"Hn what do you know. Your wounds reopened." Maya said innocently.

"Good now that you know. Can you get off of me?" Naruto asked glaring.

"I don't know. Can I?" Maya asked bouncing again.

"Ow. Stop that." Naruto let out.

"What I'm not doing anything." Maya said with an innocent expression. Naruto looked at her and would have said cute if he wasn't in so much pain. Maya blinked as she was suddenly pulled off of Naruto.

"Maya you'll make his wounds worst." Aya said smiling.

"Yeah." Naruto said.

"Fine, fine." Maya said standing. She moved to the side as Naruto sat up. He winced and quickly moved his arms to his chest.

"Shit…I didn't think using that much chakra would reopen them." Naruto said.

"Of course it would reopen." Maya said as Aya helped him stand.

"I didn't use that much chakra….just enough to make sure that he died." Naruto said. Both Maya and Aya looked at him as Anko walked up.

"At least you know that when you start a fight you finish it with their death." Anko said. "Now come on so you can eat and go to sleep." Anko said.

* * *

Done

Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu: Fire release grand fireball jutsu


	5. His mission

Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Naruto or Tenjou Tenge**

"Normal talking"

"**Demon/Summoning talking"**

'Normal thinking'

'**Demon/ inner Sakura thinking'**

* * *

Naruto frowned looking at a distance house with a pair of binoculars. It was large, well not as large as Hinata-chan's and Maya-chan's house or land but it saw still pretty big. There is a small pond to the left of the house surrounded by flowers with a small bridge over it. There is a forest towards the back of the residence. There is about five small building surrounding it. There is a perimeter wall sounding the land and forest behind it. The house he was looking at looked to have two floors. The windows are covered up keeping onlookers from seeing inside. On the ground are boardwalks that lead from the entrance and side entrances to the other houses. He frown deepen taking a notice of all the samurai posted all over the area. "This place is heavily guarded." Maya whispered out. Naruto nodded in agreement taking a notice of most of the samurai.

"A lot of them..." Naruto stopped scanning everyone that he could see. "My mistake, all of them don't seem that experienced to me." Naruto said.

"Don't judge them by their looks." Anko said quickly.

"Ok. But it's hard not to." Naruto replied.

"Maybe that's what Zabuza thought when he fought you." She replied giving him a look. He could hear Maya's snickering but ignored her.

"Maybe you're right." Naruto said. He heard shuffling to his right and his right eye began to twitch.

"So how many are there?" She asked. Naruto looked over the house taking a count of all the samurai.

"About twenty nine." Naruto said.

"Maya." Anko said inspecting something.

"Hm...I counted thirty nine." Maya said after a few seconds. Anko reached over and grabbed the binoculars from Naruto and put them to her eyes. She took a quick scan of the area before looking at Naruto.

"Both of you are wrong. Count again." Anko ordered tossing them back at him. He caught them easily and frowned. Both of them scanned the area again slowly counting each person. After a minute passed, Naruto looked toward Anko.

"Forty two." Maya said as Naruto opened his mouth. He closed it finding no reason to say anything.

"Correct. You both have to be faster when you do it. You must be able to get an accurate number in the shortest amount of time. Sometimes you might not have a minute." Anko said. "Misinformation can lead to the death of your comrades." Anko said.

"Understood." They both said looking back at the house. Naruto blinked resisting the urge to look as more ruffling caught his attention.

"Question." Naruto let out. "Why are you digging through my bag?" Naruto asked looking back at her. Anko grinned at him her hand inside his bag.

"Well…A pair of my panties disappeared. And since you are a pervert, I figured that you might have it in your bag." She said happily. At this Maya turned from surveying the house to look at Naruto. Naruto saw her look before ignored it looking at the snake ninja.

"So, your panties go missing and I'm the one who did it?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know, probably. It happened before." Anko said.

"Oh come on. I told you that was an accident." Naruto said looking forward.

"Uh-huh. You got some cute boxers." Anko said. Naruto blinked hearing Maya shift quickly. He turned to look at her again, a blush gracing his face. "I wasn't expecting chibi frogs and chibi dragons." Anko said snickering.

"Hmph." Naruto let out not doing anything. "There are better ways to find out the type of boxers I wear." Naruto said mumbled.

"Oh?" Anko replied.

"Yeah….one would be peeking on me while I'm changing." Naruto said grinning. Maya eyes switched to him with a slight twitch. Anko grinned at him chuckling.

"That's so juvenile. I prefer getting a look when I'm undressing you." Anko said licking her lips. Naruto grin turned into a surprised expression as he stared at her. Blood leaked from his nose as his imagination went wild. Naruto shook his head quickly trying to get the imagines out of his head. She chuckled already guessing what went through his mind.

"You win this time hebi-chan…" Naruto said his eyes narrowed a little.

"Ha! Now it's one hundred and three to Twenty six." Anko said happily. Maya shook her head looking forward.

"I'm surrounded by perverts." She muttered.

"Now." Anko said ignoring her and pointing back to the house and Naruto nodded. He looked through the binoculars once again watching the ronin's movements. As he scanned over the area he took noticed of the front of the large house. The shoji door slowly slide open and two men walked out followed by four ronin. His eyes narrowed, zoning in on the taller of the two men.

"That's..." Naruto left his sentence unfinished as he stared at the missing ninja from Konoha. Maya gritted her teeth squeezing the binoculars hard. Anko looked at him hearing him speak. She moved the bag to the side and turned lying down on her stomach. She drew a pair of binoculars from nowhere before peering into them. Her eyes narrowed as her eyes landed on him.

"I see...Seiki is here." She said. She moved her left hand from the binoculars and placed it on Naruto's head. He jumped a little and looked at her.

"...Yeah?" He let out. Anko didn't reply but the notion was not lost to him. He looked back into the binoculars signing a little. "I wasn't going to do anything." He muttered. Anko stayed silent already expecting such a response. She didn't remove her hand and glanced at Maya. She wasn't really sure how she would react to him. But from looking at her she could already tell she wouldn't rush in like Naruto would do.

"Can either of you two read lips?" She asked. Naruto stared watching Seiki walk out toward the front gate followed by who he assumed was the ninja's employer and his bodyguards. Naruto opened his mouth ready to say no but stopped as a thought entered his mind.

"I can a little. But I've been out of practice for a few years." Maya said. Anko nodded before looking at Naruto.

"Yeah I can read lips." He answered. Anko nodded and looked ahead. Maya took the chance to look at Naruto weirdly.

"Since when?" She asked.

"Since a while ago." Naruto said slightly moving his feet. She noticed it quickly, it was one of the signs that he was lying. She would ask later when they weren't around Anko-sensei.

"Ok. I want you to pay close attention to their mouths and read what they say." She said. Naruto nodded as Maya put her eyes back to the binoculars. He quickly made up his mind and gathered chakra into his eyes. He took a deep breath feeling the change in his pupils. He stared at Seiki, focusing on him and a close up image appeared before his eyes of the scene below. Seiki stopped and turned to his employer.

"So you want me to use my money to hire more ninja huh?" The voice of the middle aged business man entered Naruto's ears. Naruto narrowed his eyes a little figuring this was a continuation of another conversation.

"Speak what you can read." Anko commanded. Naruto nodded and listened.

"Yes. Your chances of survival would increase tenfold." That time it was Seiki. Naruto repeated the words and Anko nodded.

"Oh. I thought you were enough to protect me?" The man said.

"I was at the time. But the circumstances have changed." Seiki said.

"What has changed?" He said. "The plan is a simple one...We are…"

"The plan was set with the expectation that Tazuna would only get one team to protect him. The fact that he has two means something different." Seiki said interrupting his employer.

"What is that?" He replied.

"That you sold some drugs to somebody in Konoha…And they sent somebody to kill you of course." He said looking back at him. Naruto repeated all of it staring at Seiki not realizing Anko was staring at him.

"You're pretty good at this." She said. Naruto nodded losing concentration. He looked at Anko hoping his genjutsu he placed much earlier was still on. "Who taught you?" she asked.

"Um...I taught myself." That too was a lie. Anko stared at him detecting a hint of a lie by his tone. She narrowed her eyes a little but said nothing about it.

"You must have had a lot of practice to be able to repeat it so perfectly." Anko said looking back into the binoculars letting her hand fall from his head. Naruto blinked a couple of times before looking back at Seiki.

"You can say that." Naruto mumbled. He gathered chakra into his eyes once again and concentrated on Seiki.

"Wha…what?" The business man let out.

'What did I miss?' Naruto thought.

"I don't work for idiots and I won't die meaninglessly. Protecting you from Gato isn't such a big thing. But protecting you from him, two jounin from konoha and five brats? Yeah that is something I wasn't paid for." Seki said turning and glaring at the man.

"But, but, we had a deal!" He nearly shouted panicked. Naruto frowned a little, blinking a couple of times. He was feeling a slight burning sensation in his eyes. It was something he was used to. It was kind of a warning that he was over using it. Problem being he had only started using it. He fought the urge to close them and continued to watch.

"So?" Seiki said. "I'm a missing nin. I'm out for myself. I'm not going to die for some idiot who can't even figure out when he should listen to others." He said nonchalantly.

Naruto repeated it perfectly before turning his head moving the binoculars down. He grabbed the bridge of his nose and pinched it a couple of times trying to soothe the burning sensation in his eyes and the oncoming headache. He didn't see Anko looking at him using the binoculars as cover. She stayed silent watching him as he put the binoculars back to his eyes. She noticed the beginning signs of exhaustion show on his face and frowned wondering what kind of jutsu he was using. She began to reach over to him only to stop as he started to speak again.

"Ok, ok. Fine I'll hire two more ninja." Naruto repeated. Anko blinked and frowned looking back at the scene.

"Shit." Maya let out.

"It seems like. Our mission has just become a little more complicated." Anko said smirking. "Let's get going. We have finished scouting for tonight." Anko said reaching out and touching Naruto. He nodded as he turned his concentration to Anko.

"Shouldn't we wait a little bit longer? There might be something else." Maya said. Naruto looked at her when something caught his attention. His eyes narrowed slightly as he gaze shifted slightly to the left of Maya. A quick set of imagines appeared before his eyes and he frowned deeply. Anko looked at her putting her binoculars away.

"There might be. But it's better not to push our luck for now. Plus we know the information I got is correct and a little more to help us plan." She replied glancing to the left of Maya. Maya nodded and got to her feet. Naruto looked at Maya before deciding to move over to his bag. He put his binoculars inside and closed his eyes. He closed his bag and moved his right hand up. He rubbed his eyes a little before reaching a little higher and grabbing his forehead protector. He missed the stare Anko gave him as he drew his metal plated headband down over his eyes. Naruto sighed almost as if a burden was lifted off of him and grabbed the bag. He stood up and put it on his back before tilting his head towards Anko.

Maya nodded at Anko walking forward. Anko turned away and leap forward casting a glance behind them. Maya followed quickly while Naruto turned his head back frowning. He turned his head forward and jumped after them his hand near his kunai pouch.

The shadows shifted in an alley near the mansion and a slight flash went off. "Interesting." A low voice went out.

"I have to say. I didn't think they would notice us." Another voice went out.

"I agree. That just means this will be a little more fun than originally thought." The first voice let out.

"Hmph. Still the same I see. After two years you still are as obsessed with killing as you was before." The other male replied.

"That's what makes being a ninja worthwhile." The first ninja replied.

"Hm….just remember the agreement." The second one said.

"Yeah, yeah. I won't kill you until after." The first one replied. "I guess we should report to him now, right?"

"Yeah. He should be on the roof in a few minutes." The other said. Both of them jumped up, kicking of the sides of the alley. They reached the roof to be presented with the sight of a bored Seiki.

"What took you?" Seiki asked looking at the two cloaked ninja.

"Sorry...we figured it would take a little bit for you to get here." The first one said removing his hood. He is well over five feet tall, almost one head's length taller than Seiki. His skin is a light tan complexion. His face is angular having a single two inch, diagonal scar on his left cheek. His hair is black and short, going to the end of his neck. A few bangs of his hair covered his forehead and the engraving on his forehead protector. His eyes are almond shaped, his green irises glimmering from the moonlight.

"And we took a look around." The other one replied also taking off his hood. He is about five feet five inches. His skin is pale complexion. His face has a childish look about it. His face doesn't have any visible flaws on it. His hair is brown and lightly spiked. His forehead is covered by quite a few bangs of hair. His eyes are also almond shaped and his irises are a grayish blue.

"What did you two find then?" Seiki asked.

"Just a few spying eyes." The first said.

"Hm...I had a feeling I was being watched." Seiki said. "Jinsuke-san, those three what do you think about them?" He asked. The brown haired man blinked looking at his comrade.

"You know who they are?" The man known as Jinsuke asked. Seiki nodded shifting a little. Jinsuke noticed it and decided to answer the question. "The woman seemed like she might be dangerous. I would keep an eye on her." He started off. "The boy and the girl...just seemed to be a newbies to the ninja life to me."

"Ranmura." Seiki said looking at the other young man. He looked at him a smiled childishly.

"Well...Um...the woman seemed like she might be trouble." Ranmura said grinning. "But the boy...he was hiding something." He said his tone changing to a dark one.

"Oh?" Seiki asked clearly confused. "What could little Naru have learned during these five years?" He asked. Ranmura shrugged giving a wide smile.

"Dunno." He said nonchalantly. "But it will be interesting to find out." He said. Seiki shook his head at him. Even he had to admit, the ninja he hangs out with are weird.

"Well we'll find out soon." Seiki said. "Come I'll introduce you to the person you will be in charge of protecting for a while." Seiki said as he turned.

"Aw man...I wanted to kill a few people." Ranmura huffed as Jinsuke nodded in agreement. Seiki began to walk away, sighing a little. 'Too blood thirsty.' He thought. He smirked a second later. 'But I'm not saying it's a bad thing.'

It passed ten minutes with everyone stuck in their own thoughts. Naruto tilted his head down before looking up. "Hebi-chan, do you think we should be worried?" Naruto asked. Anko looked back at Naruto with a slight frown.

"Worried about what?" She asked.

"You know the two shinobi that's going to be hired." Naruto said. Anko blinked in realization.

"Oh! Yea that." Anko said looking ahead. "Of course we shouldn't. It shouldn't be too problematic." She said. Maya blinked a little confused.

"Why shouldn't we?" Maya asked. "If he gets two jounin to help him we might be in trouble." Maya said.

"Hm? I'll be able to handle them." She said quickly with a grin.

"I meant us." Maya said pointing at herself and Naruto. Anko glanced at her with a grin.

"Well from what I was told, Naru-chan can hold his own pretty well." She said. Maya eyes twitched at the implication.

"Well sorry, I'm not as lucky as Naruto." Maya said. Naruto tilted his head confused. He raised his right hand and scratched his cheek.

"And how am I lucky?" Naruto asked. Maya looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"You were lucky enough to fight someone who made a lot of mistakes." Maya said crossing her arms before nodding. Naruto titled his head again almost as if he was trying to figure something out.

'Who did I fight who made a lot of mistakes?' Naruto thought scratching his cheek. Maya looked at him and signed lowly before shaking her head.

"Zabuza." Maya said slightly annoyed. Naruto's mouth opened forming an o before it shut quickly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Naruto let out his head snapping to her. "He didn't make a lot of mistakes." Naruto said.

"Oh? Then how would you explain you leading the fight for almost the entirety of it?" She asked.

"Maybe I'm just that good." Naruto said with a shrug.

"Uh-huh. I need to stop Aya from lying to you." Maya said rubbing her head.

"Oh? Why does she have to lie to me? Why can't I just be that good?" Naruto asked insulted.

"One, I know she lies to you and you do to. And secondly I just can't believe you can take on a jounin who is aiming to kill you." Maya said. Anko looked at Naruto agreeing with Maya. The chances being very low without some mistakes made but the jounin. He was good, better then probably most chuunin. But an experienced jounin level ninja like Zabuza, she just couldn't see it. "Well not unless you had something like a hidden doujutsu." Maya said looking ahead. Anko looked at her agreeing again. If she would've never turned away from Naruto she would have saw him jump at the mention of it. "But we both know you don't have anything like that.

"Yeah." Naruto mumbled slightly looking away. She didn't know, only three people actually knew about his eyes. And Naruto would like to keep it that way. He didn't want her to worry about him too much. But what she said before caught him.

"Besides that we both know you don't really have that much experience fighting people in a life or death situation, so the only possible conclusion anyone could come up with is a lot of mistakes ...or that you are extremely lucky." Maya said.

"You know I heard once that luck is also an important part of battle." Naruto said. Maya blinked and looked at him. She never heard of anything of the like but she couldn't personally deny the fact, because she has gotten pretty lucky against Naruto at times.

"You shouldn't rely on luck in battles." Anko chimed in. She was using her teaching voice. "Luck is good for some areas but skill and ability will trump luck anytime."

Naruto hummed a little. He wasn't really sure if it was true but he understood what she was trying to say. He nodded in understanding. But he also knew that there was some things that was undeterminable in a battle, like the stability of the ground or trees around you. You just had to be lucky or lead them to a place you know. But sometimes that's impossible. "But what if a large dragon was to swoop down and burn the field?" Naruto asked. Maya blinked and looked at him surprised.

"Um…I doubt that would happen without out somebody summoning it." Anko said.

"How about a title wave coming and engulfing the field?" Naruto asked.

"Same answer." Anko said.

"What if a demon cat and dog are fighting and you happen to be in their way?" Maya questioned. Anko glanced at her.

"Then you're fucked." Anko replied

"What if a chicken was crossing your way, and ten ninja was hiding in the trees. How much luck would be needed in that situation?" Naruto asked. Maya chuckled lowly thinking of her next question. Anko narrowed her eyes a little.

"Shut up brat." Anko said.

"But what if something like that happens? How would I know how much luck I must exude to come out as the victor?" Naruto whined. Anko glared at him, hard.

"Yeah. And what if a snake leaps up at the moment when ten kunai rain down on him. Should he save the snake?" Maya said grinning widely.

"Ok, ok…No more question." Anko said.

"Yeah, but what about…"

"I said no more question!" She shouted angrily. Naruto shut his mouth and turned his head forward smirking a little. Maya grinned at him looking ahead as well. They just found away to annoy her. Now they just needed an opening for revenge.

Aya twisted swinging her sword in a wide arc. She spun following the momentum of her swing. After one complete rotation of her body she stopped and looked out at the dark forest. She looked at the trees that surrounded her. She studied the fresh wounds that the trees would hold for sometime. She inhaled deeply as beads of sweat slowly ran down her face. "So that's one of the sword styles of the Natsume clan huh?" A voice from behind her let out. She jumped slightly startled before turning around quickly. She blinked spotting Kakashi leaning on his crutches. He gave her a disarming smile noticeable only because of his eye. Aya blinked a little wondering just when he came. She gave a timid nod at Kakashi to answer his question. "Pretty interesting. But I wonder why didn't you use that style against me." He said slowly moving up to a tree to study the slash marks.

"Well...um. The style it's self is incomplete. I have yet to master it...plus the added techniques that I was just using needs to be refined." Aya said.

"Ah, I see." Kakashi said. He reached out keeping the crutches underneath his arm. He touched the indents and narrowed his eyes a little. 'Interesting. The cut...it's deep but not a clean one. It's almost jagged.' He thought.

"Is there a problem, sensei?" Aya asked.

"The technique you was just using...it's similar to the one Naruto-san and Maya-san was using, huh?" He asked. Aya blinked at the question before nodding.

"It was Naruto-ku...Naruto's suggestion that I add it to increase the range of my strikes and Maya taught me the theory behind it." Aya explained.

"Ah, those two really do look out for you." Kakashi stated. "How about I help as well?" He asked. Aya blinked at him a little confused. After a few seconds she realized it was a question and blushed embarrassed.

"Oh, yes I would appreciate any help you could give me." Aya said bowing quickly. Kakashi smiled at her and began to walk over to her. He stopped where she was and looked at the tree.

"Ok let's get started. I'm not really an expert in kenjutsu but I'll help a little more with the technique." He said slowly drawing a kunai that looked to be made of a different metal.

'Wait how is he going to help me with the technique? He only seen it...own yeah the sharingan.' She thought watching him turn.

"From what I gather from the technique they used, they each mold their chakra in a different way. For me to explain it simply without knowing the theory behind it."

"Um I can explain it to you." Aya shot in quickly. Kakashi gave his famous eye smile again before shaking his head.

"Naw, I feel Naruto would get mad that I know." He said. Aya nodded as Kakashi turned to the tree. "You would need to alter the balance in your chakra during each swing of your sword." Kakashi said.

"Hm? What do you mean? I though the both had the same technique...even though they named it differently." Aya mumbled the last part. Kakashi chuckled lowly hearing the last part.

"That might be true, but the way it's molded looks only to be slightly similar. Maya-san's chakra wave looked to be sharper and longer then Naruto-san's, but at the same time it was thinner, like a finely molded sword." Kakashi explained turning around. "From what I saw, the focus of the attack seemed to only aim for the first thing it makes contact with." Kakashi said gathering chakra into the kunai. He swung his arm swiftly wincing a little. Upon releasing his chakra, a arc of chakra flew at the trees. There was no sound made as the first tree that wave made it to was cut in half.

Both of them watched the trees noticing nothing moved. After a moment Aya took the chance to moved towards the trees in front of him. She placed her hand on the tree above the cut and pushed. Aya struggled pushing against the large tree. It moved slightly but otherwise stayed standing. "Interesting. It was such a clean cut that the tree wasn't affected by it." Kakashi said as Aya stopped. Aya looked at the trees behind it only seeing a light cut in it.

"Ah. I see. Hmmm." Aya let out trying to think of a way to do it. "How about Naruto's?" She asked turning back to him. Kakashi looked at her and smiled.

"Naruto-san's version of it... it was more destructive for lack of a better word." Kakashi said to which Aya nodded. "The chakra was molded to hold more...do you know about the "Quality control" of "Yin" and "Yang"?" Kakashi asked suddenly. Aya blinked before nodding slowly having gone over it a little with her parents years ago. "Good, this will make things easier." Kakashi said. "So Naruto's you could say is packed full of physical energy. With an outlining of spiritual energy. The percentage would be about 70 and 30. The shape transformation is in the shape of a V. A long vertical V." Kakashi said not knowing how else to describe it. "Here let me show you a weak version of it." Kakashi said gathering his chakra. He raised his right arm up as Aya moved away from the tree.

She watched as he swung his arm down and watched as the ground was ripped apart. It stopped before it even reached two inches away from him. Both of them blinked a little surprised. Aya turned to look at Kakashi who looked on calculating. "I must not have added enough chakra." He said. 'That's not it. Did I mold the chakra wrong?' He thought. He noticed the basic shape of the attack etched into the ground. "That's the shape I was trying to show you though." Kakashi said pointing at it. Aya looked down and blinked at it before downing.

"So that's what it looks like." Aya said. "He never really gave me an image to work with." Aya said smiling a little.

"Oh?" Kakashi let out curiously.

"Yeah. He told me it would be better not to know." Aya said before giggling. Kakashi blinked almost feeling like he shouldn't have done so. "Ok, I have to work harder." Aya said holding her sword up. Kakashi grinned as he moved back.

"Hmmm. I like your enthusiasm. How about you train for an hour before heading back?" Kakashi said. Aya nodded and closed her eyes concentrating.

"Finally!" Naruto shouted out before diving onto the bed. "A bed...a sweet, sweet, sweet bed." Naruto said rubbing his face into the fabric of the sheets. Maya came into the room a few seconds letter with a shake of her head.

"Are you thinking about going to sleep?" Maya asked. Naruto grinned nodding. "Yeah… I don't think so." She said walking over to the bed. She grabbed his leg just as he grabbed onto the other side of the bed. She pulled him hard only to hear and feel the bed move with him. Maya stopped pulling him and gave him a glare. "Let go." Maya let out.

"No." He replied with a grin.

"Let go." she growled out pulling on him again.

"No." The blonde haired ninja said pulling on the bed. He managed to get out of her grip but realized he pulled to hard. He was sent off the bed, flying face first into the wall. "Ow" he let out as Maya stared at him. She chuckled a little before sitting on the bed.

"Idiot." She let out grinning. She looked over at the wall before leaning back on the bed. Naruto rose up a few seconds staring at Maya.

"You took my spot." Naruto said. She smiled at him and folded her arm behind her head.

"Too bad. You left the spot." She let out.

"Ohhhh! We are going off that huh?" Naruto let out. He crouched a little bending his knees before jumping up. Maya reacted quickly expecting something like this. She turned over to her right dodging the incoming body. The moment she felt his body bounce on the bed, she came back around with her elbow out.

"Hiyaa!" She let out hitting him in his back.

"Hhn" Naruto let out in pain.

"Haha!" She let out. "How do you like that?" She asked smugly sitting up. Naruto tried to rub his sore spot but failed. "Hehehe. Got you good huh?" She let out. Naruto looked at her, his eyes narrowed in a glare. His blinked realizing he got his spot back and smiled. He moved his hands out and grabbed on the sheets before moving them closer and nuzzling into them.

"I got my spot back." He said closing his eyes happily and turning his head. Maya stared at him for a second before shrugging.

"Meh." She let out. She moved onto the bed switching her position so she could lay head to head with Naruto. Too bad Naruto was good at revenge. He rolled toward her quickly raising his hand up. He brought it down fast striking her behind. "Kyaa!" Maya let out in shock moving her hands to her butt. She looked over at Naruto her eyes wide.

"Bad girl, bad." Naruto scolded. She gritted her teeth narrowing her eyes. Naruto grinned at her before jumping out of the bed. She followed right after him tackling him before he got too far. Naruto hit the ground hard, rolling a little bit with Maya's weight. Naruto shook off it off as Maya got on his back. She quickly moved her right arm around his neck. She was forced to blink when he disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving behind a pillow in his place. She coughed as she breathed in the smoke.

"Damn.. it." Maya coughed out. She waved her hand around dispersing the smoke. She coughed a few more times glancing around searching for her soon to be beaten friend. She noticed he was nowhere to be seen. She glanced at the now open window and frowned. If he left there it would be a little bit before she caught him. She continued to glance around looking for any signs of him in the room. After all it wouldn't be the first time he used the window ploy to hide himself. She looked at the bed and narrowed her eyes. She wondered if he hid there. Could be, knowing Naruto he would only because she wouldn't usually check under the bed….well until everything else was checked.

Thinking about it now, she could always try to sense his chakra. Nah, that would be too easy and cheating. Not that she cared much about cheating. Just that Naruto always seemed to know when she was. She moved over to the bed glancing at it. There was something she was forgetting. It was something very important, something that she should remember but she couldn't quite place it. It would help her win this little contest of theirs…though it wasn't really a contest, it was more like payback. She bent over a little reaching for the sheets. Her hand moved slowly, inch by inch, centimeter by centimeter. There was this nagging feeling in the back of her head. It was there sometimes when Naruto would attack from above….above!

She quickly looked up twisting her body. She jumped a little swinging her foot up in the air. Just as she guessed Naruto did come down from the ceiling and got kicked right in the stomach. He doubled over as Maya continued her motion, sending him toward the window. She landed on the ground and realized her mistake all too late when Naruto flew straight how the window. "Naruto!" came her panicked shout. She stood straight before jumping over the bed and running towards the window. She got there in time to see Naruto disappear into a puff of smoke. She blinked slightly shocked just as something grabbed her ankles. She looked back just in time to see two hands pull her back. She fell forward losing her balance. She reacted fast enough to grab onto the windowsill and stop herself from hitting the ground. What she didn't expect was for Naruto's arms to encircle her arms, under her armpits. She felt his hands press against the back of her head and frowned as she was picked up off her feet.

"Gotcha." She heard him whisper. She struggled a little before she was pulled backward.

"Get off!" Her command rang out just as they both fell backward. She felt herself bounce a little and realized they hit the bed. Her eyes went wide feeling Naruto's legs wrap around her waist.

"Hehehehe." Naruto let out as Maya started to struggle fiercely. He was physically stronger than her. He knew that, she did as well. He was also good at locks, something that she experienced many times. He knew it was over, he was just waiting for her to realize it. He simply watched her as she first tried to use force to break the hold. It failed, horribly. Next she tried to roll them over so she was on her stomach. He understood what she was doing but she wouldn't succeed, he refused to let that happen. He was successful in keeping her on her back. Next she tried to use only her leg strength to lift the both of them up. He laughed; she didn't have the position nor the strength to do that.

"HIYYAAAA!" She screamed out loudly. She was frustrated; she hated being restrained like this. This was the only time she couldn't use any thing she learned to get out. She yelled again this time trying to hit him with the back of her head. It caught Naruto off guard but it didn't help much on the loosening the hold. She tried again but this time He was prepared. He used his hands to hold her head at bay. He didn't push too hard, after all he didn't want to hurt her. Her efforts was useless, she was slowly realizing it. Naruto knew it by the way she was turning or trying to turn in his arms. Too bad he had her locked in. Her frustrated yell filled the room again as she started to swing her arms and legs wildly.

"Give up." Naruto said. "You can't get out."

"No." Her defiant reply came out in a heavy pant. She tried again, this time arching her back trying to break the hold his legs had on her. Good idea, too bad Naruto had a fast reaction time. He was able to quickly stop her plan by pressing back down on her with his legs. She tried to sit up next, but Naruto's weight plus the position of his legs stopped that. She was sweating now, not to mention swearing up a storm under a hushed breath. Naruto grinned; she was going to give up soon. Naruto watched just waiting, savoring the slow victory.

Maya breathed heavily. She wanted to use a jutsu, use wanted to use one so badly but she couldn't get a good aim on him. She flailed out again with her legs as sweat poured down her face. She wanted out of this. She wanted out bad. She couldn't think straight. The only thing that went through her mind was that she had to get free. This is one of the things she hated the most. She was in a panicked state, she knew this but there wasn't anything she could do about it. She wanted out, she wanted out now. "Naruto…please let me go." She said lowly. Naruto blinked his mouth opening.

"What?" He said almost confused.

Maya shifted slightly before relaxing her whole body. She looked at the wall her eyes downcast in defeat. "Naruto, can…you please let me go." She asked politely. Her voice was as sweet as candy to him. He loved it, not to mention it wasn't many times he got her to admit defeat like this.

"Do you admit defeat?" Naruto asked an air of superiority surrounding him.

"Yes." It was a whispered. Naruto understood it; it was her last act of defiance. Why give the pleasure of saying it loudly? He would accept it; after all he did like it better when she fought back.

"Will you give in to the winner's demand?" He asked. It was a condition they had, not that Maya used it a lot but then again neither did he. But this was one time when he needed it. After all he didn't want the repercussion of slapping her butt. This time Maya nodded. That was something Naruto wouldn't accept. "Sorry, I didn't catch that." Naruto said.

"Yes, I will." She replied. It was louder than the yes from earlier. That was good. Naruto could only smirk at her.

"Ok. My demand is simple. For the rest of tonight you will not punish me or inflict any type of pain to me for anything I've done…..or will do" Naruto said. Maya didn't really think about it. She didn't care; it could be worst, way worst like the first time he won when they set it up. But that was a different story.

"Done." She said her breathing a little lighter than before. Naruto smiled releasing her. There was no need to have her promise or any need for insurance. He trusted her to follow it like she would to him when she forced him into submission. Which would be sometime after the mission, he hoped. She rolled to the right making sure she was off him, she was still tired. She wasted a lot of energy with that scuffle. Naruto was still fresh though. He looked at her as her breathing started to even out. Her back was to him, he doubted it as because of anything to serious, probably just mad that he defeated her. The record now was…. her 785 to his 780. He hummed out a little disappointed at the gap. He thought it was smaller. He had to even it up soon, but that would take a little time. He grinned closing his eyes.

They laid there for five minutes in silence, Naruto could hear Maya shifting; she was doing it a little too often. He opened his eyes and looked at her. "Worried?" Naruto asked suddenly turning is head to her. She jumped a little and looked at Naruto.

"I thought you were sleeping." She said. Naruto grinned at her and shook his head.

"Nope." He replied cheerfully. "So you worried?" He asked again. Maya stared at him for a second. She looked away turning her body so she was lying on her stomach. She folded her arms and rested her chin on her forearms.

"Yeah, I'm worried. I feel like we are going to have to face a two more jounin. From what I sensed they have enough chakra to be a jounin." Maya said.

"So that must make me a jounin as well, huh?" Naruto said smiling. Maya looked at him before smiling.

"I see your point. But I just don't want to expect something less when there is a possibility it is higher." Maya explained. Naruto took in what she said and frowned.

"That makes sense in a way. But getting yourself nervous over a maybe isn't good." Naruto said. "The possibility they are jounin are pretty high considering it's that bastard. But it's also possible that he couldn't get anybody of that level to work with him. His personality is crappy that way." Naruto explained.

"But he is good at acting and had a chance to get a lot of money." Maya added. Naruto looked at her and blinked a couple of times.

"Sometimes you are such a pessimist." Naruto said with a twinge of disappointed in his voice. Maya eyes shot to him as he looked forward. "Don't worry about such small details as titles. We gave Hebi-sensei a run for her money and beat her, and I was able to fight Zabuza quite evenly if only for a while." Naruto said. Maya looked downward with a downcast expression. "And do I need to remind you of our current record?" He added. Maya looked at him and smiled already knowing what he was trying to say. She shook her head to his question and he smiled. "Now clear your mind of your worries. If there are two jounin with him then we will team up. We're undefeatable together." Naruto said. Maya closed her eyes smiling at his words.

"Thanks. I feel a little better." Maya said. Naruto gasped in utter shock.

"A little better? Oh no, I didn't do a good job." Naruto exclaimed. "Then I will add something else. I will give you a massage to make all your worries go away." Naruto said getting up on his knees with his hands up. Maya chuckled with a little blush. She lightly pushed him.

"If you give me a massage I'll beat you up." She said playfully. Naruto grinned at her happily at the change of tone. He laid back on the bed and grinned at her. He folded his arms and rested his chin on his arms. He watched her as she looked forward at the wall again. He waited a few minutes almost certain she was going to ask him some question. Maya turned to him with her mouth open. "Um...how was it like?" She asked nervously. Naruto blinked at her before looking back and forth confused.

"Look Maya-chan, no matter what hebi-sensei said, I am still a one-hundred percent virgin." Naruto said a little panicked. At that Maya blinked wondering how she didn't expect something like that.

"I'm talking about fighting Zabuza." She said. Naruto blinked forming an o with his mouth. Naruto glanced to the left before shaking his head. He turned his head fully and stared at the wall. He was quiet for a moment trying to get his mind on the fight. Maya was willing to wait after all she was the patient one.

"It was different." Naruto said after a minute of silence.

"What do you mean?" Maya asked.

"It was scary in a way. Fighting someone who you know is stronger than yourself. He had me on edge. I knew one mistake would cause me to lose so I had to think carefully of what I did. I felt cornered but not cornered. I felt scared but not scared at the same time...the thought of him changing target weighed on my mind during the fight and made me act a lot more then I should have." Naruto explained. Maya watched him as he spoke. She understood most of it, though the end kind of confused her.

"What do you mean by it made you act a lot more then you should have?" She asked. Naruto blinked and looked at her. At that moment he realized he said a little too much.

"Um, you know use too much chakra and all." He said nervously.

"Hm." She let out before looking forward.

"Anyway. Instead of all this thinking, let's go to sleep. We have a pretty interesting day tomorrow." Naruto said grinning. Maya blinked and looked at him. She nodded realizing he did have a point. She would wonder about what he said later. She was about to lay her head down with an idea crossed her mind.

"You're not planning to do anything right?" She asked. Naruto jumped, surprised at her words.

"W-what? I'm not planning anything. Nothing at all." Naruto responded quickly. Maya stared at him for a second not believing him at all.

"Sleep somewhere else." She replied. Naruto blinked taking on a look of pure confusion. He realized what she must have meant and narrowed his eyes.

"I was here first." He said. Maya gave him a blank look.

"So?" She replied.

"I'm not getting up." Naruto said with a defiant look.

"Yes you are." She replied narrowing her eyes.

"Make me." Naruto said challenging her. Maya glared at him remembering the deal. She closed her eye and turned away.

"Hmph." She let out. Naruto smiled, closing his eyes. He doubted she would try anything tonight.

"Night, Maya-chan." Naruto said. Maya looked at him a bit confused. She figured he would try something.

"Night whiskers." She said smiling. Naruto jolted slightly at the name. Maya grinned, she always got him with it. Naruto opened his eyes slightly and glared at her. She stuck out her tongue at him and he almost responded with something that would have gotten him a beaten later. Oh well there will always be next time. He shook his head and closed his eyes looking away. It was time for him to sleep a bit, if only a little bit.

Naruto's eyes open suddenly, his vision a little hazy. He blinked a couple of time allowing his vision to stabilize. The first sight he managed to see was that of the ceiling. He blinked confused knowing damn well he was on his stomach when he fell asleep. He wasn't a wild sleeper he knew that much. He glance around the room a little and listened to the soft breathing of his friend. He shifted his body a little, slightly moving his fingers around noticing extra weight on his body. He blinked and looked down noticing an arm draped on his chest. He followed it to the owner and blinked realizing it was Maya. She was laying on her side cuddled up against him. Naruto wasn't surprised at the fact that she so close to him, it was the fact that it happened so soon. Not many people knew but Maya had a habit of cuddling up to him when they slept in close quarters. Though she thought it was him who was the one who would snuggle into the nearest person. He hadn't decided to tell her yet either. He remembered how it started. When they were younger Maya invited him for sleepovers. It was like a three day a week thing. When he would go to sleep, instead of taking a guest room she would sneak him into her room so he could sleep there. Her parents didn't like it, but Maya didn't care much. He forgot her reasoning behind it as well. After about three weeks of it she started to cuddle close to him when he was a little too far away her. Even going as far as to get out of her bed and get into the futon with him when her parents did let him sleep in her room. Naruto shook his head getting rid of his fond memories. He had something to do and couldn't be distracted.

He moved slowly away from her, making sure to take her arm off of him. He had to do it just right. Too slow and she would wake up, too fast and she would attack. But then again he had master this a few years ago….he has just been out of practice. It didn't take him long to get off the bed and luckily without waking Maya. He looked back at her and noticed something he couldn't see before. She had changed no, the correct term was stripped. She was simply wearing a black bra and a pair of boxers, correction his boxers. He blushed, she didn't care much if he saw her in her underclothes with everything they went through as kids and everything he saw, and he understood that well enough. The problem was he was a guy and she was an attractive girl who was developing nicely. He also understood that it was the whole touching certain areas without permission thing that always got him hit. He was pretty sure if he asked her she would say no anyway so why ask, when he already knew the answer. Another thing...why was she wearing his boxers!

He shook his head and looked at Maya's face. At this point he was wondering whether he should leave or not. He would love to just stay up like this and watch her sleep. She looked like a sleeping princess or a goddess. He thought about it for a second before nodding. He would go, hopefully he wouldn't be long. He reached out and softly stroked Maya's cheek.

"Mmmm." She lowly hummed. "Naruto….don't do anything…funny." She mumbled. Naruto grinned nervously. She was half awake…or at least awake enough to think he would try something….Damn it, he just was about to do something too….not anything perverted mind you. He nodded at her even though she couldn't see it. He stood up slowly off the bed and glanced around. The room is dark but not too dark for him to see his bag. He walked over to it and crouched down quickly going into it. He took out a scroll and looked at it before he noticed that his kunai pouch was on the floor next to his bag courtesy of Maya no doubt. He smiled as he picked it up and put it back where it should be. He put the scroll in his kunai pouch and stood up straight. He turned and looked back at Maya. He tilted his head noticing she had somehow got a pillow and was hugging it tightly. Again he smiled; the only thing on his mind was how she did it without him noticing.

He shook his head, getting his mind clear. He turned to the door and walked to it. He stopped in front of it and slowly opened the door just enough for him to get out. He slipped through the doorway, closing the door silently behind him. He cased one last glance at the door before turning his head to the right. He looked at the few extra doors and walked towards them. He knew they had a room near some kid that Tsunami adopted or something. So the next room was where Aya should be. He smiled sadly. He would love to go see her but he had something to do. He turned away and made his way towards the stairs.

Naruto quietly made his way to the front door, making sure to avoid anything that would have made even a tiny amount of noise. He put on his shoes quietly and quickly. Just as he grabbed the door knob a small creek caught his attention. He looked over to the origin of the noise to find Anko leaning up against the wall with her arms crossed under her breast. "Where are you headed?" She asked her expression one of the utmost seriousness. He took note of her expression before giving her a nervous smile.

"Me? I'm just going on a midnight walk." Naruto answered a small bead of sweat rolling down his face.

"Oh?" Anko replied not hiding her suspicion. Naruto nodded a little nervous.

"Maya-chan got me a little nervous. So I'm going to go clear my head." Naruto said looking down slightly.

"You're worried about the ninja that are supposed to be hired?" She asked. Naruto looked back at her before nodding.

"The whole mystery behind them...and the fact that there are probably going to be two." Naruto said. Anko raised an eyebrow at this before her other student came to mind.

"Ooooh...Maya-chan." Anko said. Naruto nodded looking back down.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not so confident about my skills that I would take a jounin on by myself. But considering the fact that there might be two including Seiki gets me nervous." Naruto said. He looked at his teacher and realized she had a confused expression on her face.

"If that's the case, why did you fight Zabuza alone?" She asked. He looked at her almost confused before turning back to look at the door.

'Shit...I knew it would come up again.' He thought. He shifted a little and scratched his head. "We...I was kinda forced into fighting him alone." Naruto said. Anko raised her eyebrow confused at the statement.

"Care to give an in depth explanation?" She asked. He looked back at her and nodded.

"Well with one-eyed caught we wouldn't have been able to escape from Zabuza." Naruto explained. Anko nodded understanding and waited for him to continue. "Emo-dick had already shown his fear so he was useless. Sakura-chan had already got it into her mind that just because he was a jounin we couldn't do much against him, which crossed her out also." Naruto explained. Anko nodded again understanding his logic.

"What about Maya and Aya?" She asked.

"Aya-chan was afraid, but her worry for me out weighed that. I could have fought with her but I feel I would have been more worried about her then actually fending off Zabuza." Naruto started. "And Maya...well I would have worked with her but after the short scuffle Maya-chan and I had with the ass, it became apparent that he was a little too much for us together." Naruto said. Anko blinked at that and stood up a little straighter then she was. Her eyes narrowed a little as many questions rose in her mind.

"So, together he was too much for you two, yet you fought him alone? What kind of sense does that make?" She asked confusion evident in her voice, with a little bit of anger. Naruto frowned looking dead into her eyes.

"It makes perfect sense when the person you are fighting doesn't know you well." He fired back.

"Explain." She ordered.

"When I was younger, I was told something in great detail. Ninja, samurai, and any type of warrior rarely losses the mindset of judging a person." Naruto said calmly looking away. To this Anko blinked understanding a little. "No matter how much they are told not to, underestimating or overestimating somebody comes naturally. There aren't many people who go into battle with somebody without some expectation. During the brief scuffle we had, I realized he was underestimating us greatly." Naruto said slightly angry. "When he first attacked I noticed the speed at which he swung his blade was slower then when he swung it at one-eye. Secondly I noticed that when Maya-chan attacked and he retreated, he began a motion to swing his blade but stopped almost as soon as he began." Naruto said growling a little.

Anko uncrossed her arms and stared looking as he stated to clench and unclench his right hand in rapid succession. She was impressed that he managed to observe that. From what Maya told her, she didn't notice it. "Though I am grateful he didn't attack, I am an...annoyed that he took it easy on us." Naruto let out. He relaxed his hand and sighed. "I figured if both of us fought him together he would reorganize himself and fight serious. If he did we wouldn't really have much of a chance. So I decided to fight alone at first. This would give everyone a chance to see his movements and maybe spot a weakness. And if I lost, it would give them an advantage over him." Naruto said.

Anko frown at him realizing there was no deceit in his words. She had mixed emotions about the whole situation when she heard it from Maya but at least then Naruto seemed like he was just arrogant and wanted to show off. Arrogance is easily fixed. It isn't so easy now. At this moment he seems as if he planned for everything. Meaning he was ready to give his life up for that chance. Something that she really wasn't ok with.

"Everything was turning out well for the most part until Sasuke interfered." Naruto said drawing her attention. "If he didn't throw those kunai, then that hunter nin wouldn't have acted until Zabuza was completely cornered and I would have been able to wound him enough to retreat." Naruto said. Anko blinked at this her eyes narrowing a little.

"You knew the hunter ninja was there?" She asked bringing a sudden stop to Naruto. The blonde pupil eyes widen a little, realizing he said a little too much.

'Shit. What is wrong with me tonight?' He thought. Naruto figured there was no use in lying and nodded to her. "He was quite easy to sense and spot. I'm not sure how much of a problem he will pose but we should be able to handle him." Naruto said. Anko nodded still wondering how he was able to spot him. She stared at him for a little bit getting a stare back. He could tell she was thinking about everything he just said and a lot of it she would wind up bringing up at a later date to try and catch him in some type of lie. She was good at that.

They stood like this for a minute both looking into each other's eyes. Naruto really didn't have a problem with this. After all he did like Anko's eyes. "Haaa. Well your reasoning behind everything is...acceptable." Anko started leaning off the wall.

'Acceptable?' Naruto thought as he watched her walk over to him. She stopped in at his side and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"While I understand your reasoning behind, I really don't like your solution for it." Anko replied moving slightly behind him.

"I couldn't really think of anything else." Naruto said nervously looking at the door. Anko grinned before quickly bending over and capturing Naruto in a hug.

"What about retreating?" She whispered in his ear. Naruto blinked at that before frowning.

"Um...that didn't really come to mind." Naruto replied. "To retreat in that situation meant giving up...one eye." Naruto said whispering the last part. Anko smirked pressing her chest onto his back. Naruto blushed a little trying hard not to start anything.

"That's surprising. From what I remember you don't care much for the lives of men." Anko said. Naruto glanced at her and nodded.

"That is correct. I don't...But Aya-chan needs a good teacher...and I don't really want to see somebody I teamed up with die." Naruto replied. Anko smiled at that before pulling him back a little.

"Nice to hear." she whispered in his ear. Naruto shivered a little glancing back at Anko. "I'll let you go on your little walk. But don't do anything stupid." Anko said. Naruto nodded again grinning a little. She released him and patted his head. "Don't stay out too late." She said taking a step back.

"Alright." Naruto replied opening the door. He walked out casting a single glance at Anko before closing the door behind him. 'I wonder.' He thought before jumping from the walkway of the house.

"Is that good enough for you?" Anko let out once she was sure Naruto was far enough away. The door leading to the kitchen opened and Kakashi stepped out. He looked at Anko with a cool gaze.

"I suppose so. I guess he does think about his teammates." Kakashi said. Anko narrowed her eyes a little frowning. "He was able to think of the whole situation...but he took everything upon himself instead of trusting in his teammate and friends." Kakashi added.

"At times that is necessary." Anko replied back before looking at the door. "Exposing the fact that he knew about the hunter nin might have forced him to enter the fight. That would have been more dangerous then what he did." Anko explained. Kakashi blinked thinking it over.

"That might be true, but that doesn't mean it was the right choice. He put both teams and employer at great risk." Kakashi replied. Anko glared a little harder.

"Says the person who got captured by the enemy. Not to mention the student who nearly killed his comrade with an unnecessary action." Anko shot back. Kakashi blinked at the jab before looking away.

"Ok...let's just say...we both need things to work on." Kakashi said scratching his cheek. Anko looked at the door nodding.

"That's fine with me." She replied turning around. "I'm checking on my other student." Anko let out before Kakashi could ask. She passed him and opened the door to the hallway before walking through closing it behind her.

'Wow...she's very protective when concerning Naruto.' He thought.

Naruto shot forward through the trees a frown etched on his face. 'I wasn't expecting Anko to catch me...now that I think about it, leaving through the window would have been smarter.' He thought landing on a branch before jumping to the next one. 'I don't have much time...with her knowing I'm out like this make me nervous. I'll have to do this as fast as possible.' He thought digging in his pouch. He brought out a single circular pill and the scroll he pocketed. He popped it in his mouth before chewing on it. After a second he swallowed closing his eyes. He landed on a tree branch and exhaled before molding chakra into his legs. He shot off a second later at a faster pace opening his eyes revealing his narrowed pupils.

The town was quiet, almost devoid of life to the observing eye. The buildings tattered and decayed. The town is barely illuminated by the light of the quarter of the visible moon. Jinsuke stood on the very tip of a roof. His eyes scanned out at the dead town. His cloak swayed a little as the wind gently blew. He was anxious tonight. Whether it was the gloomy moon above or the mission he had just joined, he wasn't too sure but something put him on edge. He felt his cloak sway again this time it moved much more erratically. His narrowed his eyes before glancing back feeling a slight presence behind him. "Pretty good. There haven't been many people who could sneak up on me." He said.

From that little glance he saw the complete figure of his adversary and he was quite shocked to tell the least. It was a kid, about 12 years old wearing a hooded cloak as black as night. The worst part of it was that he was blonde; he saw a few blond strands covering some of the visible part of his face. How could a freaking blonde haired kid sneak up on him? It didn't make much sense to him. Especially with the way the roof wood creaked every time one moved. It was part of the reason he stood there. Jinsuke was the type of guy to only believe what he himself has seen. He was sure no kid could sneak up on him. The type of training he has gone through since he was young proved that or so he thought. It was time to change his perspective on life again.

Jinsuke said nothing as he waited for some type of acknowledgement from the boy. He wasn't too sure about him but the fact he could sneak up on him proved he would be a good opponent. He was happy he wore a cloak tonight. It would be able to hide a lot of his movements. He began to slowly reach into his kunai pouch aiming for a few shuriken. "You...are Watanabe, Jinsuke." The boy said. Jinsuke's eyebrows raised at that "A missing ninja from the moon village." He said. Ok If Jinsuke wasn't shocked before he was now. He didn't think a kid would know of him. Was an assassin sent after him? Thoughts quickly went through his mind as to who this kid was. Not that any of this really mattered to him. The boy was going to die in a little bit. Jinsuke just had a really bad habit of entertaining thoughts of enemies.

The cloaked jounin turned around slowly, fully facing the boy, making sure his hand that held his shuriken was in no way possible seen. His eyes zoned in on his forehead at first but found no insignia of his village. There was no hiate-ate anywhere visible on him for that matter. He was disappointed a little, he was hoping to at least find out who his attacker might be without asking. 'Oh well...Wait a second' He thought his zoning on the young boy's face. He noticed three scar like marks on each of his cheeks, almost giving it a look of whiskers. Thoughts of the konoha ninja he spied on earlier came to mind. 'There was a blonde boy in their group. His name was Uzumaki Naruto if I'm correct. Seiki calls him Naru.' Jinsuke thought. "You must be Naruto-san, from Konoha." He replied in return. At that Naruto narrowed his eyes a little.

"So, that dip shit did say something about me." Naruto said briefly turning his head to the left. At that moment Jinsuke raised his left arm releasing five shuriken from his hand. Almost instantly a kunai found its way to Naruto's right hand. He proceeded to deflect each of the projectiles with practical ease sending them scattering around him. Naruto looked forward with an expression of understanding.

"Interesting." Jinsuke said from behind him, his arm raised high with a kunai in hand. He swung his arm in a sweeping movement aiming at Naruto's neck. Jinsuke watched as the young ninja leaned back almost like he was falling backward raising his left arm simultaneously. 'Odd' Jinsuke thought as his forearm collided with Naruto's. The next second he felt the genin's hard elbow near the center of his stomach. He let out a cough as he was forced back. He ignored the impulse to hold his stomach and stared at the blonde kid. 'The way he blocked...it was odd and his strength.' He thought noticing Naruto's right hand shift. In a brief second Naruto disappeared from his spot and closed the distance between the two. 'Pretty fast.' He thought with a frown. Jinsuke raised his left hand up blocking an incoming punch aimed at his face. Jinsuke glanced at the boy's hand feeling only the back of two fingers. He managed to get a glance of a small black ball being held by Naruto's index and middle fingers. 'Fuck' he thought as Naruto closed his hand into a fist tightly. A popping noise went off before his vision was completely engulfed by smoke.

'This kid!' Jinsuke thought as he felt Naruto's fist leave his hand. He brought his right hand up to cover his mouth as he coughed and drew a kunai with his left. He held it in front of him and narrowed his eyes trying to find the figure of the boy. 'This is bad...did I underestimate him because he's a kid?' Jinsuke thought. 'No, I should be wondering about his eyes...they weren't like that before.' Jinsuke thought. He had caught sight of them in the brief instance before the smoke bomb went off. They were slits but not your normal, run of the mill, evil slit like pupils like Orochimaru or demonic people had. It was looked like something hard to describe. Bad thing is he heard of something like this before about eight to ten years ago. He hated his selective memories.

His thought process was cut short when he felt it. The presence wasn't small like he would have figured. It was blatantly obvious but something was off. There was something wrong with it. Something that Jinsuke would even go as high to saying it felt supernatural. He wouldn't let that stop him though. He pivoted quickly moving his kunai in an attack position. He burst forward seeing his target. He managed to impale something on his kunai and twisted it. He felt liquid run down his hand and grinned before pulling back and kicking it.

"oufa!" He heard a second before hearing a body hit the roof. He let out a sigh before walking forward as the smoke blew away. He looked at the boy's unmoving form and frowned.

"Haa...Killing kids always leaves a bad taste in my mouth." He said staring as blood stained the roof tiles. Not a second later he felt an intensive pain coming from his stomach and looked down quickly. A sharp blade of a katana poked out to his surprise. He turned his head frowning. 'He...had an accomplice...I should have...' His train of thought stopped seeing Naruto's face. He quickly turned his head forward and saw the body in front of them disappear in a puff of smoke. "Kage...bunshin...impossible." He whispered.

"Yes." Naruto answered. He stared to twist the blade as he pressed his right leg down. "Forgive me...you seem like a good enough fighter...but I couldn't allow you to start using jutsu. It would have exposed me." Naruto said lowly, his voice in a monotone.

"Hn...So you...were sent after me." Jinsuke coughed. Naruto shook his head.

"No...You are...was a great threat to my teammate...one that I couldn't allow her to confront." He said.

'What?' he thought. "Well that's... too bad." Jinsuke said. Naruto narrowed his eyes at both the tone and strength of his voice. A few images appeared before his eyes before he grinned a little.

"Nice try." Naruto said gathering chakra into his sword and passing it into Jinsuke.

'What?' He thought and he discretely did hand seals. He suddenly stopped realizing he couldn't mold his chakra correctly. He felt another twist of the katana and winched.

"By filtering my chakra into your body your ability to mold your own becomes impossible...unless you can somehow match the properties of mine. And that is impossible." Naruto said his tone full of cockiness.

'Little punk.' Jinsuke thought. He felt Naruto shift hearing his right foot press down.

"Time to die." Naruto whispered almost sorrowfully. At the sound of his words Jinsuke took the moment to burst forward, leaving Naruto's bloody sword behind. He had to attack now; he couldn't let himself die because he let his guard down. He would use an attack as a distraction and use the kawarimi to switch out before making his escape. He pivoted around quickly doing hand seals as fast as he could possibility manage.

"Tsuk..." Just as the word came from his mouth he felt something bash into his stomach. He could feel it pierce through him. Blood came out of his mouth in globs as he froze. What just hit him? He couldn't see it, was it a chakra blast? He looked down at his stomach only to find a large fist sized hole, blood leaking out like syrup. His head tilted as he collapsed. His vision was getting hazy as he tried to move his weakening body. He looked at the boy ahead of him, only being able to make out the eerie red glow of his pupils. He stared as Naruto's figure doubled before coming back to one. The boy was suddenly replaced by a dark, smoky figure. With a blink that figure was gone revealing the kid who defeated him. "De...feated..by..a kid." Jinsuke managed out before his face fell.

Naruto stared at him watching the older shinobi's eyes close, blood pooling under him. He wasn't dead, Naruto knew this. He could still see the aura of his chakra or spirit resonating within his body. He could never get it right. But he understood it enough. He would be dead soon enough, from blood lost. He had learned how terrifying that attack was when used with the right amount of chakra. He experienced it just once but that was one too many times. He glanced over looking at the fist sized hole that came from his stomach. 'I should end it properly.' He thought. It saddened him that he couldn't fight him the same way he fought Zabuza but contrary to popular belief he was not an idiot. Well not a complete one. He wasn't strong or skilled enough to handle a full blown battle with a well trained chuunin let alone an experience jounin. He wouldn't lie...well a lot. He got into a lucky situation where everything went his way. Kind of like this one. Naruto walked over to him slowly glancing around for anything out of place. He stopped a few inches away from him and frowned.

Naruto wasn't used to killing. He did kill somebody before...but it was a...well he wouldn't lie to himself. It was on purpose. But it still wasn't something he could or anyone for that matter could get used to after one time. But the young genin understood it was something he would have to get used to in this occupation. He raised his sword up blade pointed down. He adjusted his arm making sure his aim was perfect. He didn't want to have to try it a second time. He took a deep breath his eyes hardening as he prepared to take the man's life. He thrust his arm down fast with a slight grunt. His blade pierced through Jinsuke, stabbing into the wooden boards under him. The sound rang through his ears. It was sickening in Naruto's opinion. It nearly made him cringed, but he couldn't do such a thing. It would ruin the last moment of the man in front of him. Naruto watched the man's spirit energy quickly disappear from his body.

Watanabe Jinsuke was dead, killed by him. It wasn't an honorable battle, a battle where someone absolutely needed to be protected. Sure Maya-chan was the cause but it could have been prevented without killing him in such a way. But Naruto couldn't come up with a way. This way was faster and much easier, so very much easier. Naruto stood up straight and looked at his corpse of the ninja before him. He watched blood slowly pool around him. Naruto raised his hands and watched them as they shook. He really didn't know how he was feeling but it was different. He didn't have time for this. He had to leave, now. He couldn't be found. His body wouldn't move though. It felt as though something was holding him in place. It was as if two hands rested on his shoulders pressing him down. He looked to his right to make sure there weren't. His eyes widen noticing the ghostly figure of a hand holding him tightly.

'What...' He thought.

"_Die" _It was a whisper, a ghostly whisper. It was barely audible, but he could hear it. Naruto shifted again, struggling against the hold. _"Die" _There it was again, a little bit louder this time. Naruto was beginning to panic now. He couldn't move his legs at all and he didn't even want to guess what was holding him. He looked around sweating a little trying to find something, anything that could help him. His eyes landed on the katana that rested in the corpse of Jinsuke. _"Die" _It was even louder now, almost as loud as a scream. He reached out for the hilt of his katana almost feeling like it was miles away. He managed to grab it and pulled it free instantly. "_**DIE!"**_ The shout resonated within Naruto like a hammer hitting a large bell. That caused Naruto to act almost on complete reflex. He swung both his blade and body around slicing through whatever had him. He caught sight of it only for a second, but that second was a second too long and it would haunt him for quite a while. The figure was ghostly, almost completely transparent. It had a feeling of death around it and something else like a mixture of so many emotions. Its face was that of a disfigured skull with strands of brown hair.

The specter vanished leaving Naruto alone on the roof. He was panicking now. He wasn't exactly sure what the hell that was and for his own sanity he didn't even care to find out. His eyes must have been playing tricks on him. Yeah that was it. Killing Jinsuke caused him to hallucinate for a little bit. There was nothing more to it. He calmed his erratic breathing as he began to move his feet. 'Yes. I can move perfectly.' He thought. His thought process stopped seeing his sword which was cover with blood now slowly decaying. He didn't have time to think much about it when a glint catch his eye. He turned his head to the side as a man came down upon him kunai in hand. Naruto eyes widen and he quickly jumped away getting his shirt cut in the process. He was happy he had Maya's chain mail on tonight or he would have a large wound now. His cloak flutter violently as he landed back his eyes fixed on the body of the new arrival.

"Ah...you killed Jinsuke." He said looking down at the corpse. "That sucks." He said walking towards the body. Naruto's eyes narrowed. Was that sarcasm? Naruto's eyes watched him move with a nervous anticipation. He could see it before his eyes, the man...Ranmura, the moment he crouches down he will throw two kunai from his cloak. Naruto would take that time to leave. Naruto didn't like running from battle, but his battle was already over. This was a fight Naruto would not accept in his current state. "Ah, you are that boy from earlier. I knew I sensed you from somewhere." he said with a sickeningly cheerful voice. At that moment he crouched down. "But you know...Jinsuke was my prey!" His rage filled shout rang in Naruto's ears as two kunai shot forward from his cloak.

Naruto was quick, not as quick as he should have been but quick enough. He drew out two kunai and tossed them at incoming projectiles. He didn't even wait for them to hit before jumping away. He heard it, the screech of two metallic objects clashing. It hurt his ears a little, but he was used to it. The next roof was in sight and he was three-fourths of the way there. It was at that point he realized the shuriken that was currently speeding towards him. It wasn't really a problem. He would land safely with the shuriken flying over his head. Just as he predicted it happened. Naruto had to leave. There was only one thing he could do. He ran forward making a single hand seal concentrating hard. 'Kage bunshin no jutsu.' Naruto thought. It only took a second for ten plumes of smoke to rise up. Ten clones appeared from the dissipating smoke and ran with him.

Naruto eyes widen slightly as he ducked down going for a roll. He made a complete roll just as Ranmura came down on him, kunai in hand. He heard the kunai crack the roof as he slid. He made it to his feet and turned back. He crouched a little frowning at the situation. He gathered his chakra to his feet, watching Ranmura. His clones made a circle around him each drawing a kunai. The missing ninja watched the copies and looked at the one that rolled. "Not surprising." He said. Naruto only glared at him, this situation was completely unfavorable. But the good thing about it was that he just came up with an amazing plan.

Naruto got to his feet and prepared himself. He glanced at his sword and found it to be completely in ruin. He looked back at Ranmura before tossing his sword to the side. He really didn't understand it but at the moment he couldn't care. He took a deep breath his narrowed pupils glowing. 'Let's begin.' He thought. He drew a kunai with a tag. He discreetly wrapped it around the kunai's hilt before narrowing his eyes. "Sorry residents." He mumbled. Ranmura narrowed his eyes just as the cloaks of the eleven Narutos opened up, a kunai flying from each hand. Ranmura jumped up quickly assuming they would be aimed at him. He watched with a little bit of surprise to see them hit the roof he was just on. He could only expression his sudden admiration for the boy when the kunai blew up a few seconds later shooting both smoke and broke wood up in the air. He saw them each shoot out of the smoke in different directions and grinned.

"Escaping huh? Oh well...we will meet again." He said to himself drawing two kunai. He quickly tossed them to the one Naruto that was taking the ground as his route. They flew on course striking him. He smirked, watching Naruto stagger a little, though he kept running. He saw Naruto glare back at him as he started his descent. He would have a lot of fun with this.

Naruto made it to the forest holding his side. 'What kind of bullshit aim is that?' He thought to himself. He looked at the kunai's that was still embedded in his side and frown. 'I'm not sure if I should take it out.' He thought. 'Ranmura...I will remember that for later. He missed my kidneys. By an inch.' He thought staggering forward. 'I'm not losing that much blood so I'll keep it in for now. I got to get back.' He thought jumping to a tree branch.

Ranmaru inspected Jinsuke's body as footsteps caught his attention. "Is he dead?" Seiki asked. Ranmura looked back at him and nodded. "I see. Who did it?" He asked. He looked back at the corpse glancing over the stab wound.

"It was a hunter nin. He was good. I didn't sense him until it was too late." Ranmura said. Jinsuke looked at him but couldn't tell if he was lying or not. He would have to trust him for now. Well until he actually studied the body that is. He watched as Ranmura moved the cloak a little. Jinsuke saw a hole in the cloak and his shirt in shreds. He saw the marks on his skin and a sense of deja vu'. It was something he should remember. It was important, he knew it, he felt it. It would lead to who did it but for some reason he could not remember. He let out a sigh knowing he would have to figure it out soon.

"Ok. Let's scan his body before getting rid of it." Jinsuke ordered.

"Sure." Ranmura replied grinning. He already had his eye on something.

Naruto landed panting heavily. 'This is no good.' He thought looking down at his side. 'Shit...I forgot about the chainmail. I'll have to buy her back one. Damn I don't have the money for one like this.' Naruto thought angrily. He looked forward and started to walk. He hadn't been running long. Maybe for thirty minutes...or at least he felt like he had. He didn't have much choice in the matter. He had to get back, he couldn't let either of them know what he just did. It would be too much explaining to do if he did. Stuff that he wasn't ready nor willing to say just yet. He shook the though off and looked down at the kunai. He grabbed onto the first one and pulled hard enough to take it out of his side. He grunted as blood spurted out staining his shirt. He frowned bringing up the kunai to examine it. He stared at it for a few seconds and watched it as it duplicated with his hand. 'It drained too much of my chakra. The soldier pill I took, my eyes made it pretty much useless. I didn't think it would draw that much out. Why in the hell does tonight have to be the night for...you know what fuck it.' He thought. He put the kunai in his kunai pouch making a mental note to examine it later.

He repeated the process with the other kunai with a little more difficulty then before. He stayed still for a little bit before he began to walk forward towards Tazuna's house. He wasn't being followed from what he knew. He couldn't sense anyone around and that was good. In this state it would be bad to fight and would lead to unfavorable situation. Naruto looked at his hand already noticing the shaking stopped. His hand dropped as he frowned. He didn't lose that much blood but his wound was wide open now and bleeding even more. It would be a little bit before it heals. Maybe in the next ten minutes or so. He wasn't sure if he should trust his survival to "it" but he didn't have much choice now. He didn't want there to be a chance for him to be found and he had a good distance to go. He wasn't sure if he would make it all the way back but he had to at least make it around the village. Oh well for now he had to concentrate on walking. If he didn't he might just fall out.

Anko tapped her fingers against the table. It was early, very early. The sun had just risen a few hours ago and her blonde student was still nowhere to be seen. She was tempted to search for him. So very tempted but she decided to wait at least until Tazuna leaves until she does. She was going to hurt him. She really wouldn't mind this if he wasn't her student but since he was and they were on a mission, it was something that bothered her greatly. She was now regretting letting him leave alone last night. She let out a sigh tapping her fingers on the table again. She glanced at Kakashi seeing him finish his meal. She didn't really care what was behind his mask but his students seemed to be mildly interested. Maya was still sleeping, she had decided to let her sleep until Naruto returned since she had something planned. But that brat hasn't come back yet.

"Um excuse me Anko-san." Tsunami said.

"Yeah." Anko let out looking towards her.

"Um… just wondering. Where are Maya-san, and Naruto-san?" She asked. Anko's hand twitched at the blonde boy's name.

"Brat number two is upstairs sleeping currently and brat number one went out last night and hasn't come back." Anko said looking away from her. Tsunami blinked at the names she gave them. She really didn't know which number was referring to which of her two students. "Blonde brat is number one and silver brat is number two." Anko said catching her bewildered look. At that Tsunami nodded in understanding.

"Hm? He left last night?" Aya asked looking at Anko.

"Yep. He was nervous so he went out for a little walk." Anko said. At that Aya's mouth dropped. "What?" Anko asked.

"...Naruto, does nonstop training when he's nervous." Aya said. Anko stared at her for a second before looking away.

'Why didn't I know about that until now?' She thought. She knows what one of his nonstop training programs look like. They ended up with him seriously hurting himself. But since he always tends to heal with a good night sleep, she never really cared about it. She just never knew what triggers them.

"What time did he leave last night?" Aya asked.

"About 12:30 am." Anko said really quite unsure what time he left.

"If he was training for that long, then he might have used up all his chakra and died by now." Sakura said rubbing her right eye. She absolutely didn't miss the heated glare coming from Aya a second later.

"I hope he's alright. A child all alone at night in the woods..."

"You really don't have to worry." Everyone turned as Maya walked in the kitchen sword in hand.

"I see you're finally up brat." Anko greeted with a smile.

"Morn'in sensei." She greeted with a forced smile. "Everyone." She said nodding to them before looking at Tsunami. "Naruto is a good ninja plus he's pretty good in the lush of the woods. Have yet to see anyone sneak up on him in there." Maya said.

"Hmph. The woods would be perfect for a coward to hide." Sasuke let out. At that Maya looked at him. It seems he was still angry about the attack. It really didn't matter to her how he felt though. She would say something back to him but found it a waste of time and energy. Not to mention she had to find her teammate. Despite what she just said, she was very much worried about her friend. So she would hold her tongue for now but she had a feeling she was going to give both him and Sakura a good talking to...with her sword that is. Yes she heard what she said.

She turned looking at the door before walking towards it. "Going to find Naruto now. I'll be back later." Maya said. At that Anko jumped up, deciding to help find him. She had a punishment to dish out. Aya was close to following after them just to make sure he was alright. But a look from her sensei made her stop. She understood why, it was probably because of their different mission but that didn't mean she was any less worried. She would have to check up on him later even though she knew any wounds he had would probably be healed by then. She sighed resigning herself to her teacher's decision.

Maya dashed ahead glancing up at the trees above. Anko was jumping after her, deciding to take the high road. Very weird if you were to ask her. She didn't know what Anko had planned but knew to be very weary of it. Maya glanced to her right suddenly. She pivoted quickly before running forward. She could hear Anko feet hit the branches above her and realized she was still on her track. Not that she was trying to lose her sensei. She just didn't want to have to call after her.

"Hey, why are you running on the ground?" Anko shouted out. Maya glanced up at her before looking forward again.

"No reason." Maya replied. It was true. She didn't really have any preference for traveling by treetop or on the ground. She just made it a habit to switch up between the two. It was originally Naruto's idea. He had some weird reasoning behind it. She just forgot what it was. She put it out of her mind as she changed course a little bit to the left. Naruto was close, very close. "We are coming up to him." She let out glancing up at her teacher. She saw Anko nod before slowing down herself. She slowed down to her normal paced walk as Anko jumped down to the ground next to her.

"Where is he?" The snake ninja asked. Maya turned left and began walking towards a large tree. She stopped in front of it before walking around the thick trunk. She was surprised to see that the area was relatively undamaged. Correction, the area was undamaged. There was nothing hinting even at any type of training what so ever. She didn't even have to glance around to spot her teammate. His current state of dress was in great contrast to that of his surroundings. His hair as slightly tinted red from blood no doubt. His shirt was gone completely showing the chain mail shirt she gave him to wear. The gleam of the morning sun all gave her all the light she needed to spot the red spots on the light-weighted metal. From her spot she noticed quite a few links broken, especially two near his side that caught her attention. His pants are now officially shorts.

Naruto was sitting cross legged, a book with a black cover in his hand. He seemed to be writing or drawing something, most likely the later. Maya glanced at Anko before pointing towards him. Anko walked up to her and stopped, looked towards Naruto. She blinked giving him a blank stare. Maya on the other hand walked towards him slowly. Somehow she managed not to make any noise as she made way to his side. She stopped just by his side and looked over at the book. "Hey Maya-chan." Naruto greeted not even looking up from the book.

"Morning." She greeted back looking at his book. She was right he was drawing something. It looked to be in comic book format. On this page there was one large panel at the very top taking up half of the page and three smaller panels at the bottom. In the first panel there was a figure that looked to be a guy. He is a shinobi, correction he as a missing ninja if his scratched forehead protector was an indication. His cloak was swaying backward showing his pants and shirt. He was standing up straight on a roof top, looking at the out into the distance. There was still missing a lot. Like shading for the shadows and lights, the finer details of the roof tiles, buildings, and in the cloak the missing nin was wearing. But that would be done in time. "You have gotten better." She said. It was the truth. He started when he was just about eight and he really had no talent for it, but he has improved a lot.

"Thanks." Naruto said. "For some odd reason I decided to create a comic." He said grinning. Maya looked at him and smiled nodding.

"Wow. I'll like to see it when you're done." She said. Naruto smiled at her nodding.

"I'll try and remember to show you." He said. She nodded at him and before something caught her attention.

"Oh. We should head over to sensei." the silver haired nin said. Naruto nodded as he got up closing his book. Naruto placed his book inside his pouch and turned around. They both started to walk towards Anko, Maya sending a few glances over to Naruto. "So was that your main character?" She asked. Naruto shook his head.

"Nope. My main character will enter on the next page. And of course it's me." Naruto said chuckling.

'Should have known.' She thought laughing a little. "I hope your adding me in it." Maya said smiling. Naruto smiled at her.

"Secret." Naruto said cheerfully. Maya shook her head a thought entering her head.

"What's the name of the missing ninja?" She asked. Naruto blinked and looked ahead taking on a blank expression.

"Watanabe, Jinsuke." Naruto replied. Maya blinked at the tone. The name was ok, but the way he said it made her think that he went and killed someone. She looked ahead making a mental note to ask about it at some time.

"Oh, watch out for sensei. I feel like she has something planned for you." Maya whispered. Naruto nodded his grin returning.

* * *

Jutsu used:

Kage bunshin no jutsu: Shadow clone technique

Ok so here it is. About about….hmmm two years I finally finish up my next chapter. Took me a while to actually get some inspiration, not to mention getting over a series of bad happens doing with both school work and my computer, and my game system….AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ************ THOSE SONS OF ********. Haaa haaa sorry about that. Still not completely over it. I've been repressing things. Anyway, I've been trying a few things out in the chapter. To me it works but I'm not too sure how the readers will take it. You probably noticed a few things going on with Naruto and his eyes and they are a few differences from the Ryuugan from Tenjou tenge. There is a reason for it that I will try to get out in later chapters.

Thanks for reading and I will try to update faster now that I got a little bit of my Mojo back. So please review and tell me what you think. I will also try and update my other stories pretty soon. So yeahhhhh.


	6. the fourth day

Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Naruto or Tenjou Tenge**

"Normal talking"

"**Demon/Summoning talking"**

'Normal thinking'

'**Demon/ inner Sakura thinking'**

* * *

Naruto's back hit a tree hard, the bark cracking under the sudden pressure. "Ugh" He let out sliding down it before slouching forward, gasping for air. He was tired, dead tired. After his little escapade a few hours earlier he hadn't had much time to rest. He managed to get to an area where he trained a little by five. Why you might ask? To give himself the look of somebody who was training all night. It was pretty hard to do. Not to mention he decided to go to his current area by 6:30. He only had about an hour to relax and draw. He should have gone to sleep, at least then he would be able to fight back properly. But alas he didn't and his current condition was not enough for this. Now if only he didn't have to dodge his sensei's incoming kick. He rolled out the way barely dodging it

"Are you just going to dodge?" Anko taunted. Naruto looked at her getting to his feet.

"That was…the general idea." Naruto panted out placing his hands on his knees. Anko nodded a little closing her eyes.

"And you think that will really work?" She asked curiously.

"I'm…haaa…hoping so." Naruto said.

"Hmm." She hummed a little watching him. She disappeared before Naruto's eyes only giving him a second to jump back. It took him two seconds to actually preform say action. Too bad it was too slow to avoid taking the knee in the stomach. Naruto coughed out as he flew back. He hit the ground a few seconds later wishing he never listened to her and took off his chainmail. "You should get up!" She let out swinging her foot at him.

Maya jumped hearing her friend hit the ground again. She closed her eyes swallowing a little as she started a set of seals. 'Ok…snake, dragon, rabbit, dragon ti…' Maya thought process was interrupted when Naruto rolled near her. She looked down at him hearing him groan out in pain.

"Naru-chan, Naru-chan, Naru-chan. You can't be laying down during training." Anko said walking over to them. "You'll just keep getting hit." Anko said with a smile. Naruto simply grunted in reply as he tried to get up. He arms shook as he pushed himself up.

"Fuck." He whimpered out. Maya looked down at him before looking forward. She quickly did the set of seals gathering her chakra into her chest.

"Too slow!" Anko shouted running towards him. Maya pivoted quickly inhaling deeply.

'Katon: kamisairu no jutsu' She thought. A second later she exhaled, a large stream of quick moving fire shot from her mouth.

"The fuck!" Anko let out surprise showing on her face a second before the fireball engulfed her. Maya stopped her jutsu blinking a little.

"I did it?" Came Maya's surprised response. Naruto coughed a little, watching as the fire dissipated. Naruto panted molding as much chakra as he could before gathering it into his arms and legs. He leapt forward tackling Maya a second before three cords of wire rose up wrapping around the area she was just at. They hit the ground going into a roll. After a few feet they stopped with Maya on top of him. He let his arms drop from her before letting his head rest on the ground.

"Thanks…." Naruto let out.

"You're welcome and thanks." Maya responded. "You ok?" She asked.

"Yeah….I'm great. I'm just…haaa.. really tired and a little bit sore." Naruto said looking up at her. Maya hummed a little getting off of him. She glanced around resting on one knee, trying to spot her abusive sensei. She turned her body completely and spotted her leaning against a tree truck almost directly to Naruto's left. She was completely unaffected by Maya's attack. Her clothing wasn't even singed. Maya frowned, nimbly jumping over Naruto, so he was behind her. She got one knee drawing a kunai and waited.

"Interfering with our little spar? Not satisfied with your new jutsu?" Anko asked, a grin plastered on her face.

"Well as you can probably tell by now I got the hang of it already." Maya replied glaring a little. "So yeah, I would like to get in on it." Maya added.

"Can't we just…rest a little?" Naruto suggested.

"Ah! But Naru-chan. It was your idea to stay out all night training." Anko replied with a tone of ridicule.

"I'm sorry ok! Just let me rest a little." Naruto cried. He wasn't actually crying, but he was pretty close to it. Anko kicked hard, really hard and he didn't know if his body could take any more. He watched as she took on a look of thinking. To give the added effect of it Anko moved her right hand up and pressed her index finger against her bottom lip. Naruto already knew the answer. He has known her for about four years and has been a victim of her anger at least ten times. He would either have to fight his way out of it or run, and running was not an option. He discreetly dug in his pouch and felt around slowly. He grabbed onto a round object which he figured was his last soldier pill. He was correct; he pulled it out moving his free hand to tap Maya's foot. Too bad he wasn't watching where his hand was going.

Maya jumped a little feeling two fingers come in contact with her butt. Her left eye twitched, a blush adorning her face. 'Son…of a bitch.' Maya thought angrily. She had a right to be angry. She was helping his ass and he finds now a good time to feel her up. In any other situation she would have just beat the shit out of him but this time she might just leave it to Anko. She felt another tap bit this time it was at her foot. She glanced at him and looked in his eyes. He mouthed out a sorry before nudging his head a little. She blinked a little before understanding what he wanted. She looked forward at Anko to see her still looking up. She slowly moved her body over so his face was out of direct view.

He was glad she didn't explode on him. That time was one of the few times it was an accident. He lifted up his arm slowly and moved the soldier pill into his mouth. He chewed on it slightly cursing the situation. He needed at least one for later on. That's why he didn't use it. But it was now or never; he didn't want to be accidently killed. He swallowed it and closed his eyes as he felt the effects. His body didn't feel as heavy anymore and he felt energized, but still sleepy. "Thanks." He whispered only loud enough for Maya to hear. She nodded a little as Anko finally looked at them.

She noticed Maya's change of position mentally smiled. She wouldn't say it out loud but these kids were excellent. To move in such a way that she didn't notice the movement when they are right in front of her was beyond astounding. But it was time to test out how good these two…or better yet Maya was. Naruto was out, he wasn't getting back up unless he had a soldier pill or something. She narrowed her eyes a little grinning. That's why Maya was in front of him. He took it using her as a shield for him. Well why not just attack now? "I've decided….no resting." She said before dashing at them.

"Break." Naruto said. They both acted quickly, Maya jumping to her left as Naruto got up and rolled in the direction he was facing. Anko reached the spot between them before jumping after Naruto. It was something he expected. With a single hand seal two puffs of smoke popped up by Naruto's side. Two clones flew from the smoke aiming for Anko. Her grin never left her face as she dispatched this two clones with a single kick. Naruto made it a first priority to get away from her. The moment his feet touched the ground he jumped to the left. Anko followed right after him only to halt her advance as another stream of fire came her way. She glanced at Maya quickly noticing her sword in hand. She was panting a little. She fired off a b-ranked jutsu twice in a row, she knew Maya was a talented kid the word genius being thrown around a few times but this is just outstanding. She must have had some training with using katon jutsu or getting it after six tries would just be absolutely nuts. Not to say the jutsu is perfected. Too bad her stamina isn't really up to par.

She looked back toward Naruto to find him regrouping. She realized something that she should have noticed before. His sword….he didn't have his sword. "Hey brat. Pull out your sword." Anko ordered. It was time for Naruto to blink. He didn't forget about his sword he just didn't think he would need one for training or the mission. He gave a nervous grin.

"Why?" He replied.

"I wanna test the both of you in kenjutsu." She said.

"Hm. I don't need it. I'll be fine with these." He said drawing out two kunai and crossing his arms in front of him. Anko blinked at him or more specificity the two kunai in hand. They weren't konoha made kunai. She actually didn't recognize them and she had made contact with quite a few ninja. They are a few inches longer than the normal konoha made kunai. Each kunai had three blades, two of the blades were extruding from the flat side of the blade.

"Where did you get those from?" She asked. Naruto blinked looking at the two kunai he had out.

"Um…found them." He said. It really wasn't a lie, because he actually did find them, just stuck in his side. Anko gave him a look. It was a look saying 'you must be an idiot to think I'm going to buy that'. Naruto grinned at her. "Are we just going to talk or fight?" He asked. She bit the left side of her lip a little. It was something that he found very alluring. His arms draped down a little as he watched her lips.

"Naruto!" Maya's shout snapped him out of his daze and he raised his arms back up. It was too late though, Anko had already moved forward a kunai shooting from her sleeve to her hand. She was on Naruto in three seconds flat. Naruto barely had time to move back as she swung her kunai at him. He managed to dodge it but he couldn't avoid the swift kick to his side. Naruto winced as he was lifted off his feet. He hit the ground hard instantly moving his hands toward his left side. He was still sore from last night. He looked up at Anko only to see her jump to her left, a sword coming down where she just was.

Maya chased after Anko not even giving a glance at her downed teammate. Anko smirk was more than enough of an incentive to continue her chase. She caught up with her giving her a horizontal swipe to which her teacher dodged easily. Anko responded with a quick swung of her kunai. It wasn't unavoidable; Maya proved that by swiftly ducking under it shifting her hands before swinging her sword back around at her. Anko jumped over the low swing expecting to see her other student come flying over her. She was right. Almost as soon as she jumped up Naruto came flying over Maya with a kick. Anko smirked moving her foot out, aligning it with his. The moment his foot came in contact with hers she bent her knee a little getting pushed back. She made eye contact with him pushing her leg out.

Naruto eyes went wide a second before he was blasted back. He reacted quickly flipping backward. He landed on the ground slightly sliding before coming to a stop. He looked towards Anko watching as she landed away from Maya. He smiled, it was a nice counter. But now he wished he did have his sword. He looked down at the kunai in hand and frown at them. They were heavier than normal kunai. He felt weird holding them. He shook his head putting them away and drawing two konoha made ones. He put his index fingers in the hole of the kunai before spinning it. He was ready now. He blinked spotting two snakes heading straight for him. "Oh shit." He let out before he was tackled. He watched the snakes fly over him a second before his back hit the ground. "Thanks." He said knowing it was Maya who was on him.

"You're welcome but stop day dreaming." Maya commanded looking back at Anko.

"I'll try but you know I can't help thinking about you." Naruto said grinning. At that Maya blushed looking at him.

"Now is not the time for that." Maya growled looking back at Anko. She would never admit it but sometimes he was pretty good at flirting. Now if he didn't flirt with every cute girl there were it might actually work against someone…Not her but someone else. She got up as the two snakes retracted back to Anko's sleeve. Naruto got up after her and prepared his kunai.

"Ready?" He asked lightly panting.

"Yeah." She replied. Naruto ran forward first Maya coming right behind him. Naruto didn't have much of a plan but he was always good at winging it. He reached her swinging both kunai at once. She took a few steps back leaning over a bit, giving her stomach a large margin from Naruto's kunai. He watched her seeing the lightly blurred form on Maya run pass his right. He watched her try for a vertical swipe only to have her blade dodged with a single jump backward. Naruto dashed around the young sword wielder before leaping at Anko. He landed in arm's length of her and spun on one foot; swinging his right arm out at her.

Anko grinned taking a step back out of his range. After his first initial swing she moved up kicking him in his shoulder sending him onto his side with a grunt. Anko saw a shadow overhead and looked up quickly. She spotted Maya coming down with in a slanted spin. She rolled to the right a second before Maya landed her blade cutting the ground deeply. 'That was close.' She thought grinning. She moved quickly reeling her arm back.

Maya eyes went to Anko before letting go of her sword. She shifted her body turning towards Anko. She crossed her arms in front of her face as Anko's fist came her way. Maya closed her eyes as her sensei's fist hit her arm. She jerked back as Anko gave her a few jabs. She cracked one eye open looking through the small opening her arms left. Maya jerked doubling over as the snake ninja's fist found a home in her stomach. She coughed, saliva flying from her mouth. "Hmmmm. Next time don't close your eyes." Anko whispered pulling her fist back. Maya fell to the ground a second later coughing, wrapping her arms around her stomach.

Anko looked towards her left to where she dropped Naruto at. She raised her arms quickly as a foot appeared in her vision. She managed to block it barely, being pushed back in the process. She slid back against a tree her arms shaking a bit. 'Well damn….that hurt like a bitch.' She thought lowering her arms. She looked at him watching as he jumped back a couple of times, Maya tucked underneath his right arm. "Should you really be worried about her?" She asked in a curious and mocking matter.

Naruto simply panted his eyes narrowed watching his teacher carefully. He was getting a little angry. He didn't like it when Maya was hurt, that was kind of the reason he learned locks. And he sure in the hell didn't like others hurting her. He slowly and carefully kneeled down not taking his eyes off his purple haired sensei. He placed her on the ground gently. "Na…ruto." Maya let out wheezing.

"Relax and wait a little bit. You just got the wind knocked out of you, so you should be fine in a few minutes." He said standing back up. He took a deep breath crouching a little.

"Ah. I see you're finally ready." Anko said grinning. Naruto wasn't in the mood for her taunts. He drew the kunai that he put away prior to picking Maya up and held it in front of him. He decided he would defeat her; that was his plan now. He ran forward without hesitation, his movement was that of a zigzag. He watched Anko's eyes follow him easily, something that he always knew. He tossed the kunai into his left hand as he approached her. He watched a smirk appear on her face a kunai coming into her hand. Her arm rose up before the kunai flew at him. He tilted his head to the side and paid no mind to it as the blade whizzed by him, cutting into his cheek. He was bleeding now but it didn't matter. He closed in on her watching as she bent her knees just a little. She would jump, or so he guessed. The question was in which direction. It didn't matter, he would follow. He grabbed onto Maya's katana the moment he reached it. He ripped it from the ground as he passed. He had what he wanted now, he didn't need the kunai.

He halted his progress and jumped back tossing the kunai. He watched her jump away to the right, by the look on her face he could tell she was not expecting such an action from him. Understandable, after all he was a rush in type of fighter. He landed first; her jump was a little too high. He would take advantage of that. He dashed forward again aiming for where she would soon land. He channeled his chakra into the blade, spinning quickly. "Sonikku kousa" Naruto whispered out releasing a wave of chakra. Just as the chakra wave left the blade he spun again a little quicker the previously, lowing the katana to the ground before bring it up in a diagonally unleashing another wave of chakra.

The two invisible waves flew out, the diagonally one cutting the ground giving the trajectory out. It was a diversion, something Naruto really didn't think of at the time, after all he had to stop and watch for her next move. It wasn't powerful enough to kill her just bash her back. He watched his sensei land on the ground, looking specifically at the ground. She glanced at him and grinned jumping to the right. This time the leap wasn't so high, and the roll on the ground after she landed to add on to it. She got out of the way of both of the waves quite easily much to his disapproval. He didn't have time to ponder over it seeing her arms fly up, two kunai flying at him. He swung the blade quickly in a wide arc in front of him. He spun it fast enough so that any onlookers wouldn't be able to see the blade itself.

He heard the collision of the kunai with his blade and saw the kunai bounce into the air. He stopped spinning his sword and dashed at Anko watching as she did the same. She reached him faster than he thought she would. So it was quite a surprise to get a foot in the face. He flew to the right hitting the ground hard. He went into a roll purposely dodging the heel kick that came up next. He managed to push himself up off the ground without stopping, something he would later try to learn. He was forced to duck a second later as Anko came at him fast with another kick. He glared hard coming up from his low position, bringing the sword up fast. It cut through her like butter through bread, but Naruto's wasn't a fool. He jumped to the left as her body was engulfed in smoke. Shuriken rained down on his prior position in droves. Was she trying to kill him now?

He landed and turned scanning the area. He didn't catch where the kunai came from. It didn't worry him though. There was really no reason to. After all he had some training for situations like this and a technique to find her. He closed his eyes molding and gathering chakra into the area between his eyes. He took a deep breath and unleashed the chakra in a dome around him. It was one of the true forms of his chakra wave. She would not be able to hide. He saw it all, everything around him, Maya slowly starting to get up, rocks, trees, flies, beetles, insects in general. It was hard to filter through all of it. It was a technique he barely used because of the strain on the mind. He was told to wait until he was at least fifteen before using in a combat situation. He never really understood why, and still didn't. Ah! There she was. She was in the bushes behind him; she looked like she just got there. She was good; he didn't hear her move at all.

He knew where she was now; he needed a plan to take her down. But what could he do. He wasn't sure what she did before while they fought but this was a vast step up. He knew that she probably held back but to this extent….bullshit. He put such thoughts aside for now. He would need to concentrate; now that he found her he had a slight element of surprise on his side. And he would need to use it. He relaxed his body taken in deep breaths. He focused on her image out of all the images in his mind. It was pretty hard, he would have been better off using his chakra wave. But it had a certain range to it and it would only show what it hit. It was exactly like a bat's echolocation. There was even a delay from the release of it to the reception. There was none with this. If he had to describe the technique, it like having a dozen or so video cameras around and watching each of the dozen screens on the TV; having to look at one of the screens then the next one, back and forth at random intervals of time, and repeating it over and over again. It was hard to focus with it on, he had used it a few times prior….but he didn't remember what happened during it.

One minute passed, two minutes, three minutes. She didn't move from her spot. She was just watching him. It was ok. He needed a little time to think even though the massive headache that was coming didn't really help much. He resisted the urge to rub his temples or the bridge of his nose to soothe it even if it was just a little bit. But he didn't want to set her off. He felt it, movement at his back. He was about to move only for a hand to grab his arm. There it is the image of who was behind him. It was Maya. She had finally recovered from the blow. "I see you're up." Naruto said.

"Yeah. Sorry for the wait. I know where…."

"Don't say it." Naruto replied quickly. "I've been waiting for her to make a move. I don't want to set her off without a good plan." He said.

"Ok. Have you got one?" She asked sliding her hand down to the hilt of her sword. Naruto turned his hand allowing her to grab the hilt before letting go.

"No….Her skill level isn't like what we have experienced before. It's hard to know what she would do and everything." Naruto replied.

"You thought she wasn't holding back before?" Maya asked looking around just for the visual effect.

"To tell you the truth, yeah I did. But this is unreal. She's really something. I'll have to say, if I was the type to be scared, now would be the perfect time for it." He said with a little chuckle.

"And that tells me how well are chances are with her." Maya said with a little shake of her head. Maya looked back at him hearing a sharp intake of breath. "You should release it." She said. Naruto turned his head to her and tilted his head.

"How did you guess?" He asked.

"It's not a guess. I can literally feel your chakra all over my body right now." Maya said. "And it feels weird." She said. To her it was very weird. It was like having Naruto caressing her whole body without touching her. It wasn't a bad weird, just something she wasn't used to. She actually didn't even know he could do this. She only witnessed her mother teaching her older brother it. And that felt weirder then this.

"Sorry…I'll have to decline that." Naruto said pausing slightly. His headache was really getting to him. "I can only sense chakra enough to get by; I'm not as advanced as you are with it. This is the only way for me to keep total track of her." Naruto explained.

"Don't overdo it then." She cautioned.

"I'll try not to." He replied with a small smile. With her here he might be able to come up with a good plan. But that would only be if she didn't….. "Ah, fuck she's moving." He said. "Break forward." He said quickly moving forward. Maya listened following his command; sensing Anko circle to the left. Both kunai and shuriken flew at them striking the ground where they just were. He had time to open his eyes as Anko appeared before him. Having her image appear in his mind and watching her also was not something he really expected but he didn't care. He blocked her first punch already deciding to just defend for now. He watched carefully as a flurry of punches came at him.

Face, blocked; side, blocked; leg, blocked; rinse and repeat. She was fast as hell, it was hard to fend off her punches but somehow he made due. He went low falling for a fucking feint; he was pissed the second her fist bashed right into his face. He was lifted off his feet for the seemingly hundredth time that morning. He hit the ground hard blood coming from his lip. He was hurting right now, his whole body was just screaming at him, mainly his head. It felt like it would explode at any minute now and getting hit was not helping in the least bit. He looked up just in time to see Maya intercept Anko from her course.

He shook his head closing his eyes again. He needed to rely on only one form of sight. He stood up slowly as he took as many calming breaths as possible. The moment he was on his feet he dashed forward toward Anko and Maya. Maya had just ducked under a kick when he reached her. He leapt over her, his right arm cocked back. He threw a hook aiming at her chin, hoping to any kami that would help that he hit. They were on vacation it seems. Naruto felt his hand hit nothing, the image of her moving already showing in his mind. He heard the slight shuffle of her coat as she threw a counter punch at him.

"Ah!" He let out his body jerking violently at the impact. His body was thrown back but it was ok. He was used to this by now. Sad to say but he was done, even with the soldier pill his body couldn't take it anymore. From early this morning to now, all of this was too much for him. That wouldn't stop him from giving one last attack though. He spun his body once gathering everything he needed. He opened his eyes and locked onto Anko. He had to aim carefully and strike before Maya had the chance to rise again. He thrust his right arm out fast unleashing his forged needle.

Surprise wasn't the only thing going through her mind as she was flung back against a tree. She heard it crack on her back though the pain was mild compared to the agony her chest was in. She hadn't forgotten about that move, she just didn't have it in her mind at the time. So when she watched him throw his straight, she only though that he might have misjudged the distance between the two. Oh how she hated being wrong, she hated being in pain for being wrong even more. Her eyes was a little burry now, she might have black out for a few second at the initial hit. She blinked it away and looked forward only seeing the tip of a sword in her face. She followed it to the wielder and frowned. Yeah it was Maya and she was glaring kind of hard.

"You lose." She said. Anko sighed heavily before taking a look at Naruto. He wasn't moving and that was a bad sign especially since she planned to do the mission tonight. Maybe she had gone overboard with this lesson of who's the boss. Nah! That was completely impossible. The blade poked her neck drawing her attention back to Maya. "Do you surrender?" She asked confident in their victory. She probably could have gotten out but her chest hurt so damn much. She should force Naruto into giving her a chest massage. Yeah make her feel a little bit better. The blade pressed against her a little harder.

"Yeah, you two won this." Anko said begrudgingly. At that Maya moved her sword signing to the world as if a rock was taken off her shoulders. Hmmm rock on her shoulders….good idea. Anko grinned as Maya sneezed. "Bless you." Anko said cheerful as ever.

Maya looked at her before turning away. "Thank you." She replied before walking over to the downed genin.

"You're welcome….cheater." Anko said mumbling the last part. Maya nearly halted her walking at the very absurd thing that came out of her sensei's mouth. She didn't though and she would get a high five from Naruto later on. She reached him and knelt down by his side.

"Hey, are you ok?" She asked. She was actually worried, he took a real beating. He didn't answer so she grabbed his side and watched him jerk suddenly. Oh he would so have so many bruises later on. She pulled him onto his back and took a look at his face. Blood was slowly leaking from his left nostril mixing in the overflowing sweat from his face and the blood from his cheek. He wasn't hit in the nose though.

"How is he?" Anko voice came out from behind. Maya didn't glance back, she was used to being snuck up on.

"He seems to be unconscious. He probably passed out from your last hit. After all you have been beating him senseless all morning. I would have been surprise if he was still up after this." Maya said wiping the blood from his nose. It wasn't just that, it looked like he used up quite a bit of chakra, but it wasn't enough to kill him. Anko hummed a little thinking about it.

"I see….He might be out of commission at least until tomorrow." She said. "Hmmm ok you watch him for a bit, I'm going to go get something."

"Alright." Maya replied. She didn't need to know where she was going, currently she just wanted to relax a little. Her stomach still hurt.

Naruto opened his eyes slowly, the haze of sleep quickly disappearing. The first sight he saw was leaves blocking out the lights of the sun. It was about noon now or so he guessed. He shifted a little and his head was ringing like a hammer striking a bell. He moved his hands up slowly to his head or so he tried. He stopped feeling his body's protest, his body still hurt like hell. "You're up." A voice called to him. He blinked as Maya's face came into his line of sight.

"Yeah…" He replied. He felt a shift under his head and glanced to his right. He saw her breast and stomach and realized his head was lying on her lap. He looked back up at her as she touched his face.

"How are you feeling?" She asked. It took a second for her question to register in his mind.

"Hurt." He wanted to say he was fine, but his head was hurting a lot. Maya grinned at that.

"I bet." She said. "Sorry there isn't much I can do. I'm no medic." She said with a slight laugh.

"It's…fine." He said squeezing his eyes shut. Ok sunlight and headache don't mix.

"What's wrong?" She asked concern showing up on her face.

"Head…pain….real bad." He replied.

"Hmph. I told you to shut it off." Came her apathetic reply. Naruto simply nodded a little. He didn't want to argue about anything right now. He felt two fingers on each one of his temples causing him to open his eyes.

"Wha…" He let out.

"Hush. I wanna try something." Maya replied quickly. He felt her fingers rub his temples in a circular motion. Naruto was about to reply back when a strange sensation overcame his senses. It felt odd, not really good, not really bad, just odd. But the pain was gone for now. He closed his eyes allowing her to continue. He felt something change dramatically and he gasped slightly. It felt good as hell. "How does that feel?" She asked. He couldn't speak currently. The pain in his head was gone and this pleasant feeling was filling him. He only smiled slightly moving his right leg up. Maya laughed a little. "I'll take that as it feels good Maya-sama." Maya said grinning. Naruto nodded a little breathing softly.

She continued doing it thinking about the technique he was using. She didn't know it or the chakra wave he used. If she was right that was the version Naruto came up with. She knew how it worked but Naruto never told her the details on how to actually get it to work. Yeah she tried herself but it never came out just right. And the sensory dome he used earlier, she was told she wouldn't need it and she wasn't really interesting in learning after what happened to her brother when he used it. Naruto was different though, he was like her just not from her clan. Why would they teach him something like that? It was strange to her but she wasn't really allowed to question her father. "Naruto…don't use that anymore." She said. At that Naruto opened his eyes and stared at her.

"Hmmm?" He let out.

"The Ryu no gan, don't use it again." She ordered stopping her ministrations. The headache came back fast, too fast. It hit him like a rock and he grimaced just as quickly. Maya blinked adding chakra into her finger tips before starting again. Naruto moaned in what seemed like pleasure before looking back up again.

"Why not? It's a technique with so many uses." Naruto said slowly.

"But the overall perks of it doesn't outweigh the risks of it." Maya replied.

"Maya-chan, my senses aren't as good as yours." Naruto said. This she knew, she was a very good sensor. She was used to locating people fairly easy. Naruto had a hard time recognizing the differences in the signatures. "Being able to use it will help when we are guarding something or are in situations like the one we were in with Hebi-sensei." He said. She frowned at him, slightly cursing her late father.

"Naruto you don't need that anyway. If anything I'll be with you so sensing someone in hiding will be my job. Besides that it was a technique of preparation. Why he taught it to you doesn't make sense." She explained. Naruto blinked at that. That was news to him. He was told only that it would help since he was ordered to keep his eyes closed. What the hell was it preparation for anyway? "Not to mention your eyes work fine, there is no reason for you to even rely on your chakra wave." She added. She was adding stuff on now. He liked using his chakra wave. And he kinda did need it, if only a little. Walking around with a henge on would suck to high heaven especially if people noticed it.

"But what if I'm not around you?" Naruto said.

"Then always stay around me." Maya replied quickly. At that Naruto blushed and she saw it instantly. "Um….I didn't mean it in that way. I…I mean…um…" She was stumbling over her words now, not sure how to rephrase it. Now Naruto knew exactly what she meant by it, he wasn't crazy enough to think she meant what others would think. The only reason she probably thought he didn't was the blush that appeared on his face. And she just stopped her ministrations and the headache was back again.

He reached up quickly grabbing her hands which she had repositioned on her chin. She blinked down at him as he moved her hands back to his temples. She understood what he wanted and started to massage his temples again. "I know what you meant" He said. "But you know we might not have a choice about that." He replied. Maya frowned at him again. He was trying to find a loop hole out of it.

"Why do you want to use it so much?" She asked ignoring his statement. Naruto blinked at it, he wasn't expecting that.

"I think it's the fact that I keep the fact that I can actually see a secret." Naruto said thinking about it. "Without people knowing, it gives me an advantage and I feel cool with my forehead protector on." Naruto whined the last part. Maya shook her head a little. She got the first part but the second was completely unnecessary. This would go on forever; she would have to get him to compromise.

"Ok. How about this? As long as I'm near you and fighting by your side you rely on me to sense people around us." Maya suggested. Naruto pouted a little thinking it over.

"Ok. I agree. But this only applies to the Ryu no gan technique." Naruto said.

"That works for me." She said with a slight sigh. It was something and she didn't have to worry about any sensory overload.

"Maya-chan." Naruto called. Maya looked at him she didn't know why he insisted on calling her with that honorific.

"Yeah?" She replied curiously.

"Two questions. First one is how is your stomach? Does it still hurt?" He asked his eyes flashing with concern. Maya huffed at him looking up.

"Nope I'm not hurt at all. You think she could hurt me that much?" She asked slightly cocky. Naruto grinned at her she seemed to have a little bit of a problem with Anko but it was ok.

"Ok. Second question is when did you learn how to use your chakra like this?" He asked. Naruto was genuine curious about it. The application of this could go so far especially if he was feeling on their bodies. He made sure not to let his grin appear on his face.

"Well…Shin winded up in a situation like this." Maya said looking up. At that Naruto frowned deeply. "He used the same technique as you for an extended period of time, maybe ten or twenty minutes if I remember correctly. It was basic training, dodging and counter kunai with his eyes closed." Maya explained solemnly. "After it was over he collapsed his nose and eyes bleeding a little and he had a massive headache." She said with a little laugh. "He walked me through doing it since I wanted to help him out a little."

Naruto took all of it in looking away. He lasted ten to twenty minutes….Naruto wasn't even able to last five when he did it. How did he know? Her dad made sure to tell him so. He sighed a little, forcing himself to sit up. It was a comfortable spot too. But he would give it up. He didn't want to remind her of her brother for now. "I feel better now." Naruto said. It was a lie, his head started thumping again just not as hard as before which he was grateful for.

"Uh… no." She said quickly grabbing his head.

"Wahh!" He let out as she forced him back down on her lap. Maya placed her index and middle finger back onto his temples before starting to massage them again.

"Don't move for a little while. Anko gave me instructions to make sure you relax for the rest of today." Maya ordered. Naruto stared up at her pouting.

"But she's not here right now." Naruto said huffing. Maya stared down at him.

"Even so….You are still very much injured." Maya replied.

"Ah! I'm fine. I'mm….ugh" Naruto let out pain surging through his side. Maya had decided to show him just how sore he was, with a slight tap to his side. The side he got stabbed in, the side Anko took special care to kick for just about three hours, the side that she punched that knocked him the fuck out! He glared up at her, really, really hard.

"See." She said throwing back a knowing look. "You are still sore. You need to rest." She said. "Besides, you didn't listen to her once and she did this…What do you think will happen next time?" Maya asked.

"I'll bend her over and spank her." Naruto whispered out. Yeah he didn't know if she was around and he wasn't going to accidently speak out loud for her to hear and hurt him. Yeah he was almost fearless, he wasn't stupid. Maya shook her head at him.

"Yeah….For some odd reason I actually want to see that happen." Maya said squinting, glancing to her left. She didn't know why that seemed appealing to her currently but it was. She had to start wondering if Naruto's perverted mind was tainting her. Or maybe it was the fact that Anko might be humiliated in front of her…..and in pain. Hmmm that might be it. She was actually still pissed about being punched in the stomach like that. Oh well. That probably would never happen anyway. She looked back at Naruto to see him staring at her in a strange matter. "What?" She let out. Naruto shook his head a little wondering if he was affecting her….Not that it would be a bad thing, maybe. How would he know? "By the way, how long did you sleep last night?" She asked.

"Hm? How do you know I went to sleep?" He asked raising an eyebrow. She stared at him and shook her head.

"How wouldn't I notice? You didn't move at all especially when I flipped you over." She said. Naruto blinked at that.

"I was wondering, what was the point of that?" he asked.

"I don't know. I figured I'd make sure you were asleep before I changed." She said shrugging slightly. He raised an eyebrow at her before he remembered something.

"Question. Why were you wearing my boxers?" He asked. She looked at him blinking. She looked up in the air as if thinking of an answer. It took a minute for her to finally look down at him.

"I wanted to try them on." She said grinning. Naruto blinked at her before raising an eyebrow confused.

"So why did you sleep in them?" He asked.

"They felt comfortable." She said nonchalantly. Naruto stared for a second blinking at her.

"Yeah…..let's not make that a habit." Naruto said.

"Sure." She said with a blush and nervous grin. Naruto let out a sigh before closing his eyes. "Hey…you never answered my question." Maya said frowning.

"Oh…An hour tops." Naruto said not opening his eyes. Maya stared down at him thinking it over. He slept a total of three hours today then. He was out for two, which was pretty cool. Even Maya thought he would be out for a lot longer. And he slept an hour last night.

"Go back to sleep." She said suddenly. Naruto opened his eyes and glanced up at her.

"I'm not tired anymore. My body just hurts." He replied.

"Even so, it's not good for you to only get three hours of sleep." She said. Naruto stared up at her blinking.

"You're not planning on doing something to me right?" Naruto said. Why else would she want him to sleep? She must have had some payback planned.

"No. I have nothing planned. You just have to be ready for tonight. You don't want to sleep on the job do you?" She asked grinning. Naruto nodded slightly. She was right about that and he was lying when he said he wasn't tired.

"Ok….Wake me in two hours please. That should be enough for me." He said. She took her hands off his temples and nodded.

"Two hours it is." She said. He nodded closing his eyes, he was comfortable, really comfortable…and hey his headache was gone.

Maya stared down at him, listening to his shallow breathing. Sometimes he got to sleep fast other times he would pretend. She knew it, she pretended too and she was better at it than him. She just had trouble with spotting when he was pretending. She hummed a little leaning back against the tree, this is annoying. So far she counted three techniques he shouldn't know or better yet he shouldn't need. The jutsu she stopped him from using on Sasuke a two days ago was one her brother came up with. The second was the Ryu no gan. That technique was specific to those clan members who have the Ryuugan, dormant or activated. Though she have really heard of anybody from her clan activating it young except for her brother….but he was a special case. The third technique was one she saw him use when training alone. She first saw her brother use it and when she asked about it he told her it was something she would never have to worry about. She glanced back at Naruto frowning at him. Why was he taught it? It didn't make sense to her. She sighed putting it out of her mind. It didn't matter at this point. She smiled down at Naruto placing her hands in his hair. Her smile turned into an evil grin. She was going to get bored quickly, so why not have some fun? After all two hours was a long time to wait

Anko took a deep breath. She has been away from her two students for just about three hours. Why? One her chest still stung, she was quite confused about it. But it wasn't anything she couldn't endure. The second was something else was pressing on her mind. When she got the mission she was ordered to watch Naruto specifically. She saw he was serious so she really didn't ask any questions. But her curiosity of why was getting to her. Now that she lost him for one night, without any type of supervision meaning whatever he did was up for him to tell or not. And after looking at his chainmail, she realized the differences in the broke links near his chest and the ones at his sides. She inspected each one carefully after she left and found out that those two links near his side was different from the others. The others were sliced, but they had marks on them that signified they were hit multiple times in order to do them. The ones on the side was clean, one thrust, one hit and it was pierced. Meaning it was done by two different people. To her it seemed like Naruto might have done the second one set on the chest. So who did the other ones? If she pictured it on him the two at the side would be just above his kidneys. That wasn't good. That probably could have killed him.

After discovering this she decided to find where he supposedly trained at. If anything just to find his shirt. A training ground can be staged to look like it was used so she wouldn't really find anything useful from the destruction he caused. But his shirt would allow her to see if what she suspects is right. The problem is she has been looking for just about three hours and hasn't found anything. Where the hell could he have possibly gone? She has patience, a lot of it. You had to if you were a good ninja, but this was ridicules. There was no tracks, no traces, nothing. There was no way in hell he was good enough to erase his tracks like this. It just didn't make any sense. He would have to have literately trained on top of a pond or something to erase his tracks as complet…Anko stopped and turned a little remembering the place where she found them a few days ago. Could he have? She narrowed her eyes turning a little to the east. She should check now shouldn't she? She smiled for some odd reason she had a feeling it was there.

For where she started to the little area where they were before it took her twenty minutes to find it. And to her surprise the area was in complete disarray. If he called this training he was completely insane. This looks like a raging bull came and destroyed the place. At the moment she wished she could come up with a better description for the place but damn no words came to mind. Trees were completely up rooted, like he fucking grabbed it ripped it straight from the ground. Bushes were cut up, a lot. The ground around the pond shredded like cheese. And she didn't want to mention the animals she saw dead around. She blinked so maybe he did do some training. So that might be the reason he was so easy to pound on earlier. She walked forward looking around for any sign of that shirt. It was pretty hard considering how screwed up the area was….why did he leave that tree in the pond? She shook her head; her student was nuts but cool at the same time. It took her a few minutes to inspect the entire area. She stopped on top of the tree that was dunked in the water frowning. Where the hell could that shirt be? He didn't burn it did he? She looked down at the water a smiled at her reflection. It took her a second to see pass her reflection deep into the water. She blinked seeing his light blue shirt that he wore the previous day at the very bottom of the pond. She smiled finding her target.

Anko dived down not caring in the least about being wet. She swam down quickly and reached for the shirt. She didn't even reach halfway down before she noticed something. There was a tag on his shirt….and explosive tag….underwater…..oh fuck. It exploded a second later causing a huge eruption of water. Anko landed on the ground and glared hard. She was angry…she was pissed. She loved Naruto, not in that way, He cute and everything, but he's just a kid. Maybe when he's fifteen and needs practical training in the sexual arts she's teach him but yeah as she was saying she was going to kick his ass. Kick his ass hard. So hard he won't be able to walk. After all you know what they said once you piss off Anko you won't be able to walk until next year. And so far she was ten for ten with making that happen. Let's see if she could make it eleven.

Naruto opened his eyes at a light shake. He blinked a couple of times before closing his eyes. Maya was looking at him and he already made the same mistake twice on this mission. He didn't want to repeat it again. After all he didn't know exactly when his eyes would change and he didn't need her seeing it. He sent out a wave of chakra getting the image of her slightly over him. He turned his head yawning a little. "It passed two hours already?" He asked sitting up. He felt a lot better than before. He wasn't tired anymore and his body wasn't as swore. Now this was sparing conditions.

"Yeah. It passed two hours." Maya said watching him holding in a laugh. Yeah she screwed with his face royally. She put mud on his cheeks in a grand design. It was a round face that looked like that of a teddy bear on his right cheek. On his left was a peace sign. And finally she gave him a mustache and goatee. She grinned at him, reaching to her back and patting herself on the shoulder. Naruto suddenly turned to her and she quickly lost her grin.

"Hebi-sensei didn't come back yet?" He asked.

"Nope. She has been a way for like four hours." Maya said trying her hardest not to laugh. He looked completely stupid with it on his face. She watched him open his eyes and stare at her. "What?" She let out with a nervous smile. He was silent for a moment. He realized his eyes were normal for now so there was no point in hiding them. He felt a little odd but he didn't know what it was. He had a feeling she did something but accusing her would lead nowhere. She was a pretty good prankster, not as good as him mind you but pretty good. He taught her all she knows so he knew she did something. He could see it in her beautiful eyes. He tilted his head at her biting his lip a little. He watched her look at his lips before her smile grew. Yeah she did something alright but what was it. He saw her look down at his chin studying it for a little bit. Then he felt her hand swoop under him face. He blinked it was pretty fast and because of the sudden motion he couldn't absolutely see what her hand caught.

"What did you do?" He asked. She shook her head fast grinning.

"Nothing, nothing at all." She said quickly. Naruto narrowed his eyes she already gave herself away. Now it was time to find out what she did. He reached up to his face before something caught his notice.

"Naru-chan." Came the sing-song voice of Anko. She sounded sweet and happy for some reason. Maya looked at her already sensing her when she came. His eyes shifted to her and he saw her anger filled eyes.

"Yes?" He asked slightly put off from her. He watched her for a second as she studied his face. The anger filtered from her eyes quickly before she busted out laughing pointing at him. "What?" He asked a second before Maya herself started laughing. Naruto looked between the two of them frowning. "What's so funny?" He asked his voice slight rising.

"Look at your face!" Anko shouted out her eyes watering. Naruto stared at her before glancing at Maya as she pounded on the ground. Naruto quickly took off his forehead protector and looked at his reflection. Naruto eye twitched as his head slowly went to Maya. He moved his right hand from the sash of the bandana and slowly wiped the mud from his face. He stared at her making the most threatening face he could come up with.

"Oh…I was trying to hold back but you have just brought it on. I declare war on you Maya-chan!" He shouted standing up quickly, pointing at her. At this it became silent. He watched as a dark smile spread across her face. She stood staring in his eyes, the shadows her hair giving her an even darker look.

"Bring it on Whiskers. I'm the best there is." She said accepting the challenge. Naruto's eyes twitched as he gritted his teeth. Anko watched feeling a lot of tension.

"You just brought down the storm that is Naruto Uzumaki-sama. Prepare to be defeated, dattebayo!" Naruto shouted out excited. Naruto grabbed his mouth a second later staring at Maya. She blinked before smiling at him with a little chuckle.

"You still say that!" She let out grinning. Naruto mouth twitched. He for the last few years he has been watching himself when it came to that. He had to make sure he was in control of himself but every once in a while he would let it out. He removed his hands from his mouth and glared.

"So what! I'll kick your ass." He shouted out angrily. He wasn't really angry just peeved. He himself didn't care about it but he felt self-conscious about it the longer he hung out with them.

"Oh? Bring it on. I'll love to pay you back for last night." She said grinning. Anko stared at the two as they glared at each other. She saw lightning collide between their eyes and blinked. She rubbed her eyes a little and stared back at them to make sure she didn't see what she thought she saw. She moved up to them and placed her hand on both of their heads.

"Ok…enough for now…" She said. Both Maya and Naruto looked at her, Naruto's eye twitching a little. Maya quickly moved Anko's hand from her head frown a little. She didn't like people's hands on her head. "How are you feeling?" Anko asked looking into Naruto's eyes.

"I'm better now. Want to try and kick my ass again?" He asked. This time he was prepared, he was rested and knew of her abilities. He would win this time. Anko's right eyebrow rose up. She would have smirked at him and accepted if her attitude didn't disappear with Maya's prank.

"Nah, I would hurt you too much." She said coolly. Narruto crossed his arms puffing his cheeks. "I would like to ask you about the type of training you did last night and about your shirt." Anko added. Her mind went back to focus, she needed to know. Naruto blinked at her before nodding.

"It was a light work out until I summoned my clones." Naruto said. "For some odd reason they took it serious when I told them to come at me to kill. I mean one of them dropped a fucking tree on me." Naruto said his face scrunching up. At that Maya chuckled, he didn't know whether the fact that a tree fell on him on the fact that it hurt that made her laugh. But he shook it off. "Then I went overboard and started using my blade jutsu. And my shirt ended up underwater." He said adding the last bit as an after though.

"How did that happen?" Maya asked before Anko could get anything out. Naruto looked at her and frowned.

"Well…Shadow clone number one though it was smart to tag my shirt forgetting the fact that if I die so does he. So I took it off and put it on a tree branch. I think it was on the tree before it was dropped a few second later. But I found out the tag was a dud." Naruto said. Anko narrowed her eyes at this. That shit was no dud.

"How did you come up with that conclusion?" She asked. Naruto looked back at her and grinned.

"Well because Maya-chan and I had a little bet riding on if an explosive tag could light up underwater. And I found out it did, I lost a lot of money that day. Anyway when the tag didn't blow up a figured it was a dud and kicked their asses." Naruto said with a fist pump and a smile. His clones were assholes.

Anko stared at him taking everything in. She already knew how to tell he was lying, but there were no signs here. Then the question is why did it explode? "Why did you leave your shirt in the water?" She asked. Naruto shrugged at that.

"I didn't feel like getting it." Naruto replied. "Why? What happened?" Naruto asked, curiosity already setting in.

"Hm, don't worry about it." Anko said quickly looking away. Naruto blinked at her and tilted his head. Now he was very curious, he wanted to know what happened. "Anyway, I've decided we shouldn't wait to do this. Tonight we will do the mission. We will get in and out." Anko said.

"Alright." They both replied.

"But first I need to talk to you two." Anko said. They both looked at each other. "Sit." She said. They followed her words and sat down both with their legs crossed. Anko looked at the two of them before sliding her jacket off and rolled it up in her arms over her chest. She sat down with her legs crossed in front of them. She let her arms drop and watched Naruto's eyes go straight to her breast, understandable for a couple of reasons. One he was a young boy going through puberty, secondly she didn't have a bra on, and finally her nipples were poking through her netting. She looked at Maya to see her eyes staring straight into hers. Good at least one of them is focused. She watched as Maya elbowed Naruto getting his attention back to her and not her body. Anko drew a kunai from her pouch and brought it forward stabbing it into the ground. She moved it quickly cutting the ground making the character for ninja.

They both looked down at it before looking at each other. Naruto raised an eyebrow he really did hope this wasn't a lecture. He so hated lectures. He would rather stare at her breast for a while and that might be what he would do if she started. "Are you two ninja?" She asked suddenly. They both looked back at her before looking back at each other.

"Yeah." Maya let out first.

"I thought we've been through this. I'm a ninja swordsman." Naruto said frowning. She gave them both a blank look before pointing her sword.

"From what I gather…You two aren't in the least bit ninja." Anko said.

"What? Check the forehead protector." Naruto said pointing to his head. Maya stayed quiet at that, there was no need to argue. She would let Anko have her words.

"Oh? You really think so?" Anko said gazing into his eyes. Naruto frowned a little not sure what to say. "I've seen it already. From your movements, your fighting style, your eyes. You two love confrontation. Love to fight needlessly." Anko started.

"I didn't think fighting was needless." Maya said. Anko turned her eyes to her drawing a circle around the symbol.

"You think like a samurai and they don't usually live long." Anko said. Maya blinked at that. "A ninja is usually outnumbered, the underdog, the underestimated. Even in our time this rings true." She said glancing at Naruto. Naruto hummed at that crossing his arms. "It rings true even more for the ones who are doing assassination missions. We are rarely up against even odds. Fighting how you two have been will get you killed. Maybe not now, maybe not in the next mission but it will get you killed." She explained. Naruto opened his mouth to speak only for Anko to raise her hand up. "Let me finish." She said. Naruto nodded at her closing his mouth.

"A ninja must seek to fight in a way that winning remains a possibility. Invisibility is one of those ways. It is hard for an enemy to fight what he cannot see. A ninja must be a master of strategy." Anko explained.

"But I am a master of strategy." Naruto whined out.

"Not from what I seen." Anko shot back at him. His eyes twitched at the insult yet he said nothing. "A ninja is not supposed to be above hiding, above using trick and deception, above stabbing somebody in the back, above poisoning them. But I can see that you feel you are." She said calmly, her eyes displaying her seriousness. "Instead of fleeing or hiding you stand your ground like a moron and fight against tipped odds." She was staring solely into Naruto's eyes. He didn't look away, he stared back at her. Not once has the thought that he made a mistake crossed his mind and he won't ever think so. "The meaning of the word 'ninja' is 'one who remains alive, one who preserves his life, one who plans and fights ad struggles through any circumstance no matter how difficult, and remains standing at its conclusion'." She said tapping her kunai in the middle of the character.

"I understand." Maya said nodding drawing both of their attention to her. "But it's kind of hard to change battle tactics on the fly. We know ninjutsu yes and know of tactics that a shinobi should use, but using tactics such as those when we have been so thoroughly trained to fight head to head is pretty hard. Even if we started we would revert back to fighting the way we were trained." Maya explained. Anko looked at her nodding.

"It's good you understand. I will thoroughly beat those lessons out of you." Anko said smiling. Maya stared at her before nodding understanding. Naruto on the other hand frowned. He was a little iffy about it. He was saved by his training against Zabuza. He didn't want to change his style completely after all Anko was a slave driver and if he focused all his time on ninja tactics how would his swordsmanship increase? "And just because I'm training you to be more like ninja's doesn't mean you have to give up your swordsmen nature." She said as if reading Naruto's mind. "I will have to teach you when to actually fight like that. Assassination missions aren't the right time." She said quickly. They nodded at her understanding; they both knew what assassination meant. It was to get in, get the target and get out without anyone realizing.

"Question." Maya let out.

"Yea?" Anko let out looking into her eyes.

"Why did the old man allow you to take us on this mission? This has to at least be for a team of chuunin. Why did he give it to a newly formed team?" She asked. Anko hummed out a little, tapping the tip of the kunai on the ground. It was a good question. One she knew the answer to but didn't want to tell them outright.

"Why do you think he sent you out?" Anko asked. Naruto looked over to Maya. Really he didn't have a clue as to why. He figured Anko was really good with words.

"The first thought I had that this was a way to get us to stop relying on kenjutsu but I figured it wouldn't matter how we killed somebody. My next thought was he wanted us to learn and train more in the art of stealth but if that's the case then we could have just stayed in konoha while you taught us. The only thing that comes to mind is that he wanted us to experience what a mission where we would need to rely on such tactics." Maya explained. Anko nodded taking in everything that she said. She was right for the most part. But there was a little extra that she did catch.

"You got some of it. But it's not necessary to know why he has us doing it." Anko said. "We have accepted so everything else is an after though until the mission is over." Maya nodded at her. She knew it wasn't really the right time to ask but wanted to try anyway. "Now I want to discuss some tactics that can be used." Anko said.

At that Naruto tuned her out. He loved her voice, even when she's angry she has a voice that could always keep his attention. Problem was he hated lectures of all kinds even if it was as beneficial to his learning. He just couldn't pay attention for more than a minute and the fact her breast was exposed like that wasn't helping. Strange thing is he never once got a glimpse of her nipples before. It was strange to tell you the truth. He never once saw any indication of any bindings and she was always moving so how in the hell did she do that? Should he ask? Would it be appropriate to ask? Why are her nipples hard? Would she be mad if he grabbed them?

Naruto didn't even have time to jerk back when a kunai came at him. It stopped poking at his neck as he looked down his eyes open wide. "See, that's what you can do when you use one's emotional state against them." Anko said looking at Maya. Naruto simple blinked, he wasn't exactly sure what just happened but he figured she used her body to attract his attention so she could show Maya something. He frowned it wasn't his fault he was attracted to her breast. Maya nodded at him and frowned.

"Um…isn't that bad for us then?" She asked. Anko blinked at that before staring at Naruto. Naruto blinked confused a little. It wasn't like people could just agitate him in battle.

"Damn…well thank goodness this is our first mission and there are no women around." Anko said. Naruto waited for a chuckle, a giggle or a laugh after it. There was none.

"How do we fix it then?" Maya asked.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Naruto let out quickly his hands in front of him. "Lets stop right there. There is no way I'm letting anything about me get fixed. Besides there is nothing broken." Naruto said. They both stared at him without saying a word. In Anko's opinion there was nothing wrong with him. His perverted side made him extremely fun at times so there was nothing to fix about it. But on missions to have him let his guard down because a female is attractive was not something she wanted. After all she could have killed him twice today because of that. Maya on the other hand just thought he was lying his ass off. Naruto would be way better without his perverted streak. She really didn't care much but she would not like to watch him die because of a half-naked chick.

"Hm….It will actually be hard to do." Anko said looking at Maya.

"hm?" She let out actually wondering why.

"Well…. we don't want to scar him. And we might wind up making his perverseness worst." Anko said.

"When you say scar…" Maya started. Naruto looked at her, eyes wide and his jaw dropping.

"Well it will pretty much mess him up for life." Anko started indulging her. "It would probably make him afraid to be near woman for the rest of his life. At least that was the way my thought process went." Anko said. Naruto frowned turning to look at her.

"Hmmm could we…" Naruto stood up interrupting Maya.

"That's my cue to leave." He let out turning.

"Naruto, sit." Anko said quickly.

"Nope. Have to go to the bathroom." Naruto said before walking forward. Truth was he did, he just held it for a while. It was a perfect time to use the excuse. He didn't need to hear anymore. It was stupid anyway. He would not fall so easily to a trap like that in battle. Anko was just a different case. He knew her for a while and she was quite the looker.

"Fine, come back in five!" Anko shouted at him. He waved his hand acknowledging it. Hopefully it would be over that topic.

"Wow….I was just joking." Maya said looking after him.

Naruto didn't walk too far. After all she did say to be back in five. After going behind a tree and relieving himself he walked little bit further fixing his pants. He let out a sigh before stretching his arms out. He was following just about everything she said and understood her concern but it was something that she didn't need to be concerned about. He could get out of any situation with his shadow clones. Oh well, hebi-sensei is hebi-sensei. He let his arms drop to his sides stopping, glancing around the area. Something was around; he had an acute feeling about this. He didn't hear anything, and didn't see anything but he knew something was there. It was strange, he felt like he was being watched but at the same time felt like nothing was around him. He stood there waiting breathing shallowly waiting for anything to happen.

Four minutes passed by as the tension surrounding Naruto increased. He was probably being paranoid but he was pretty sure something or someone was around. Suddenly an intense burning sensation reached his eyes. He grunted out bending over slightly his right hand coming to his face. He felt the change of his eyes as his vision changed slightly. This was the reason why he kept his eyes covered. "Motherfucker." He forced out silently. He reached up slowly and pulled his forehead protector down over his eyes, closing them at the same time. The sensation was still there but it was less powerful now. He let out a sigh straightening his back. He frowned slightly realizing the feeling was completely gone. He turned his head around. He frowned before sending out a few chakra waves. After the images of the surrounds came back to him he found nothing out of the ordinary. He shrugged pushing it to the back of his mind. There was no need to worry. He walked forward back towards his team, it passed five minutes already but it didn't matter. He wondered how long she would give her lecture.

It was late now. Around eight o'clock. Naruto rested his head on his arms facing the boy across from him. It was weird, he saw him before but he didn't know who he was. His chakra radar gave him enough detail about the boy to know that he looked a little like Tsunami. He was probably her little brother. They had finished eating like ten minutes ago and his stare was annoying. So what if he flirted a little with his older sister. She has to find a guy sometime and who's better then himself? No one, that's who. He would have said something to the boy but every time he tried he was kicked by his silver haired teammate. He moved his head toward Sakura who was standing looking at a picture on the wall. She was being a little nosy if you asked him. It wasn't there place to inspect their client's personal stuff. He already knew her question was coming up soon. He turned and got the image of Aya and Maya casually talking. Anko was upstairs that he knew. Kakashi was sitting watching everyone. Sasuke was brooding looking like he had trained a while….the emo fucker. Tsunami was washing dishing and that little boy was still freaking glaring at him.

"Hey, why do you have a torn picture on the wall?" There it was, Sakura's nosy question. Why did she have to be a smart idiot? Naruto took the time to raise his forehead protector up, genjutsu already on his eyes. He wanted to see the impact of her question on the three of them. He had seen the picture when Maya dragged him out before, but he had enough sense not to ask. All three of the residents perked up but not in a good way. It was kind of a depressing atmosphere. "Inari-kun was staring at the picture all throughout dinner. It seems like somebody purposely removed that person who was in the picture." Sakura said.

"And knowing this you still decided to ask, why exactly?" Naruto asked. She glared at him as he stared. It was a genuine question that he wanted the answer to. It wasn't meant in any way to try and insult her. He raised his cup up a second later waiting for her to answer it.

"It my husband." Tsunami said. At that Naruto started coughing almost choking on the tea. Maya grinned at that, though she didn't laugh. The situation didn't call for it.

"And the man called the hero of the city." Tazuna added. Naruto's eyes turned to the boy Inari as he slide back from the table. He watched him head for the door with a raised eyebrow.

"Inari! Where are you going?" Tsunami called out. He opened the door and slammed it causing Naruto to narrow his eyes a little. Rude punk. "Father! I told you not to talk about that man in front of Inari!" She shouted angrily before rushing off after him.

"Saku-chan...This is why you usually don't ask questions." Naruto said. She looked at him slightly sweating. She might have made a mistake.

"What was wrong with Inari-kun?" Aya asked. She was curious as to why he stormed out.

"There seems to be some type of explanation." Kakashi said.

"Inari had a father; not related by blood. They were close like a real father and son." Tazuna paused at that. "Inari would laugh a lot back then." Naruto watched him carefully. The older man started to shake tear swelling in his eyes. "But Inari has changed… since the incident with his father." Tazuna explained. Naruto frowned he didn't really like sad or depressing stories especially true ones. He could already tell how this one was going to go.

Naruto was absolutely right about it. The recount of events that happened was everything Naruto expected it to be. Touching moments, learning, the passing of ideals, love, and finally death. He felt bad about the puppy most of all. What ever happened to poor little Pochi? It brought a tear to his eye. He looked around the table looking at everyone's expression. Aya and Sakura looked like they were hit the worst. He sighed as the silence held the room dragged on. Naruto stood up suddenly drawing everyone's attention to him. He walked ahead towards the door.

"Naruto, where are you going?" Aya asked.

"To practice a little." Naruto answered. The moment he reached the door he paused. "Old man. You shouldn't worry too much anymore. You have a good set of ninja protecting you. We will do a good job at it." He said. "We'll make sure you build the bridge and to do you one better…." Naruto said turning to him, his genjutsu gone. "I will personally take Gatou's life." Surprise spread on each of their faces at his declaration. But his blue eyes showed so much seriousness, so much determination that it was hard to call it a bluff. He turned back to the door taking a deep breath. "Maybe by the end of this we can show everyone that hero's exists at the very least." He shrugged not really sure of that. He opened the door as both Maya and Aya rose from their seats. Naruto exited the house the both of them following right after him. He jumped away and they followed leaving the room silent. A moment later Sasuke got up before walking out the door.

Maya frowned, Naruto lost them twice but they found him. He was sitting on a tree branch looking at the moon. Aya jumped up to the tree branch first, he wasn't surprised by this and strange enough he pull his forehead protector down. "Hey." Naruto greeted. She nodded at her sitting at his side. Maya jumped up a second later taking her spot on the opposite side of Naruto.

"So…how do you think we are going to make them believe hero's exists?" Maya asked. Naruto frowned before shrugging.

"I couldn't tell you. I don't really believe in heroes myself." Naruto said. Aya looked at him surprised.

"Why don't you believe in them?" She asked. Naruto tilted his head at her, frowning a little.

"The definition of a hero is somebody who commits an act of remarkable bravery or who has shown an admirable quality such as great courage or the will of self-sacrifice. Everyone has the ability to process such qualities. But in our world those who choose such actions need to have some type of emotional connection to somebody who they want to protect. There are rarely people who are alive that wants to protect others without some type of motive behind it. I've seen people like this all over the place." Naruto explained.

"For me a hero should be somebody who protects without being enticed by something. And not just the people they care for but even their enemies and complete strangers. But that is impossible here. Anger raises in those hurt and unhurt. Love brings unimaginable hatred and pain. Sadness grows and alteration the mind changing to anger at everything. Heroes can't be swayed by emotion but everyone is one way or another." Naruto explained. They both listened each of them coming up with their own ideas. His perspective on it was pretty interesting.

"Why did you say that back at the house?" Maya asked. Naruto turned his head towards her humming lightly.

"I'm not sure. I guess I wanted to lighten the mood or something." Naruto said shrugging.

"Did you mean what you said?" This time it was Aya who asked. Naruto nodded his head.

"I was seriously. I'll kill Gatou and we'll protect him one way or another." Naruto said.

"Do you care for them?" Maya asked. Naruto hummed a little.

"I can't really say. The story touched me yeah, but it's not like I really care on a personal note for them." Naruto said truthfully. "And I don't think it's right for me to say I do, or any of us for that matter. We took the mission so either way we would have to do this. It saddening me that the city is like this and I will help in the only way I know how. And that is to kill Gatou." Naruto said. He pulled his right leg up and wrapped his arms around it. Maya and Aya looked at Naruto before looking at each other. Things were silent for a moment. No one knew exactly what to say next. Naruto frowned at the awkward situation him put himself in before opening his mouth to speak.

"I believe heroes exist." Aya said stopping him. Naruto tilted his head at her with a small smile. "I've seen one a few times already." She said smiling. "He always came just when I needed him. He helps with even the most trivial of task. He even saved my life a few times." She said staring at Naruto with a light blush. Naruto's face scrunched up in concentration as he turned his head forward.

"What's up with that expression Naruto?" Maya asked.

"Well…it seems somebody has been doing my job. When I get back to Konoha I'm going to have to kick his ass." Naruto said with the upmost seriousness. Both Maya and Aya stared at him before looking at each other. They started laughing hard at him as he turned his head back and forth between the two. He was so confused right now. He tilted his head back as Maya calmed down. She looked back as well just as there sensei came from behind a tree.

"Sorry to interrupt." She said smiling cheerfully. "But I need you two now." She said pointing at her students. Maya shook her head before standing up. She turned as Naruto stood up also.

"We'll be back later on. So don't stay up too late." Maya said nodding.

"Yeah. And I'm going to ask for the guy who stole one of my jobs." Naruto said. Aya covered her mouth as she started to laugh again. Maya on the other hand didn't. She laughed loudly drawing his attention to her.

"What?" He asked confused yet again. Maya grabbed his wrist grinning.

"Lets go, I'll tell you as we go." She said before jumping. Naruto followed her movements jumping as well. They landed on the ground before they started walking away. Naruto turned back and gave Aya a thumb up with a huge smile. He sent out a chakra wave just in time to get the image of her smile. He turned his head back as they Anko turned around.

"Let's hit the road." She said before leaping forward. Naruto and Maya followed after her quickly, they were a little off in direction they was supposed to be going but it wouldn't take too long to correct.

Aya looked after their retreating bodies with a frown. She wanted to say more but oh well. Their mission came first for now. She turned and looked at the moon. She was content for now. She laughed again thinking about his reply. Naruto was so dense at times, that was part of his charm though.

In an hour time team Anko arrived in the forest area behind their targets house. Anko was kneeling behind a tree with Naruto and Maya kneeling in front of her. She looked at both of them before reaching over and pulling up Naruto's forehead protector. He didn't resist, he figured it would come. He applied a genjutsu beforehand because of this so he was ok. She looked into the eyes of both of them before breathing out a calming breath. "You two stick close to me. We'll locate our target kill him and get out." Anko said.

"Wouldn't it be easier to split up?" Naruto asked. Anko and Maya turned to him and stared for a few moments. "What?" He let out confused.

"Three jounin, we're not splitting up….For some odd reason I feel like if you were to go alone you would run into all three of them." She said narrowing her eyes at him. Maya nodded agreeing. Naruto frowned but shrugged, he didn't really care. "Remember what I told you two earlier. This is an assassination mission. Treat it as such. Don't been seen and if you are eliminate the ones who see you. And don't hesitate." She said staring more at Maya then Naruto. Naruto blinked slightly confused when he got back to them earlier Maya looked down but he didn't quite understand why. It must have been because of this subject.

Maya glanced down a little nodding while swallowing. Naruto looked at her also; even if they were trained to kill she had yet to actually do so. Naruto killed twice to date. Anko knew of the first one the second she didn't. Naruto stared at Maya coming up with a small decision. He would make sure she didn't have to spill blood, at least not until she was ready to.

Anko closed her eyes breathing in deeply. She hated to admit it but she was a little nervous. She wasn't really the teaching type. This was her first team and she didn't want anything to happen to them until she at least finished training them. She was torn between having them watch from the side lines and actually participating. But it's better for them to experience it firsthand. That's how she was taught and it would be best for them as well. Especially Naruto, maybe this will at least stop him from acting reckless. She would take care of the jounin, she would let them take care of the small fries. As long as they followed orders it would be an easy mission.

"Lets….began." Anko said opening her eyes. As long as she was protecting them, what was the worst that could happen? Later on she would regret that thought.

* * *

Jutsu

Katon: kamisairu no jutsu: Fire release: Fire missile jutsu

Ryu-no gan – Eyes of the dragon.

Sup. I finished this chapter so much faster than expected. No I can relax a little on work on my other ones as well. Hahahah. Anyway, I'm thinking of changing the Japanese words and jutsu into English. I don't know why but it would be easier to do. I'm still in the thinking stage of it. So let me know what you guys think about that. Other than that tell me what you think about the chapter and constructive criticism is always welcome. Thanks for reading.


	7. Trouble catching up

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Tenjou Tenge

"Normal talking"

"Demon/Summoning talking"

'Normal thinking'

'Demon/ inner Sakura thinking'

* * *

Naruto leaned back against a tree, the bushes in front of him completely obscuring his form from outside view. He was glad he wore dark clothes out. Maya was right; it did help him keep hidden. His eyes are closed as he took silent breaths. He opened a moment later his eyes and peered through the bushes. Two people stood talking. Their conversation contained information that dealt with their current state of boredom. It didn't really matter to him, and the information they likely had was false. To Naruto they were just annoying him. Find a fucking hobby if you're bored, idiots. Naruto glanced to his left and took a look at Anko. She looked at him and made a couple of signals with her right hand. At that Naruto looked to his right at Maya. He raised an eyebrow at her and she rolled her eyes. "We attack on her signal." Maya whispered. Naruto looked back at Anko and nodded as she gave him a funny look. He shrugged with a slight nervous smile. She looked ahead at them before raising her hand.

Naruto looked forward drawing a kunai. He noticed a look from Maya but paid no attention to it. He noticed the two men finish talk before splitting up. Naruto glanced at Anko waiting. If anything this was the right time. It seemed he guessed right when Anko flicked her wrist. Both Naruto and Maya moved out with no hesitation. Naruto headed toward the man walking to the left and Maya headed toward the man going towards the right. Both Maya and Naruto wordlessly switched their targets each changing directions.

Naruto reached his target first. The man barely had time to turn when Naruto leaped up. His hand moved quickly, finding its way to his katana. He drew it half way as he leaned back. He wasn't quick enough to escape the blade cutting its way across his neck. Blood sprayed fast from the wound as Naruto landed. He turned looking at the man as he gasped grabbing his neck, dropping to the ground. Naruto stared somewhat entranced by the spectacle. Blood was leaking out from under the man's hand, draining into the soil. Naruto's eyes found the man's. He stared at him as the man stared back, his eyes wavering in a panic. It didn't take long before the light from the man's eyes gave way, and his grip on his neck went slack.

'….Easy…' Crossed Naruto's mind. Naruto raised his left hand touching his cheek. He brought if in front of his eyes seeing blood painting his finger. He rubbed his thumb across his fingers looking at the red elixir. He had to wonder was killing someone really this easy. Jinsuke died almost as quickly, only difference was he put up a fight first. His attention turned to his hand as he began to contemplate death.

"Naruto!" It wasn't a loud shout but it was close enough to his ear for it to seem loud. Naruto shivered before turning his head, completely drawn from his thoughts.

"Wow…..Hebi-sensei is right there Maya-chan. Not to mention we are on a mission. This is not the time for you to be hitting on me." Naruto scolded. Maya stared at him with a half lidded gaze. She began to say something only to stop and smile.

"I'm glad the pressure isn't getting to you." She replied. Naruto grinned back.

"Of course not." He replied. He lost his grin before giving her a stare. "Did you…." He left his question hanging to which the young girl looked back.

"I knocked him out and tied him up." Maya replied pointing back at him. Naruto looked around her and raised an eyebrow. Anko was right next to him, crouched down looking him over.

"Ok." He replied.

"Let's go." She said turning. Naruto watched her turn and walk back toward the guy she knocked out before looking at the corpse right next to him. He stared with a vacant look in his eyes before staring at the katana he still had in his hands. He reached down and grabbed it and it's sheath, pulling it from his still warm hands. He turned and walked over to Maya without a second glance.

"You two did a good job." Anko said when Naruto stopped at Maya's side fixing the sheath to his back. He looked at the guy who was tied up to tree. He raised an eyebrow at him wondering how fast Maya truly was.

"What are we going to do with him?" Naruto asked.

"Find out what information he knows before getting rid of him." Anko replied. Naruto frowned at the thought.

"Could we even trust anything he says?" Naruto asked. Anko looked back at him blinking.

"That's what torture is for Naru-chan. To get the truth out of him." Anko said smiling.

"That's not what I mean." Naruto said. "Since we are dealing with Seiki, it is good to assume that he already knows we are coming. Especially tonight." Naruto explained. "Shouldn't we assume that he would give out false information to the ronin expecting us to grab one?"

Anko stared at him with a tilt of her head. "Why do you think he would assume we would come tonight?" Maya asked. Naruto looked at him blinking.

"Well since we came across twelve of these guys patrolling it only safe to assume they knew we are coming." Naruto said. "Unless I'm just being a little paranoid." Naruto said scratching his head. Maya thought about it for a second remembering the scene of the house during their stake out.

"He's right, they weren't patrolling before." Maya said. Anko nodded looking at the downed man.

"Why do you believe he would give out false information?" Anko asked.

"One of Seiki's strong points is false information." Maya answered for him. At that Naruto looked away into the forest. Anko took a notice of it and frowned.

"I see…that information that I missed." She said standing.

"I'm guessing that you didn't know him too well." Maya stated.

"Nope. Met him like three times…. then I heard he hurt my little Naru-chan." Anko said standing. Maya blinked at that.

'My?' She thought. She shook her head a second later before looking at the man. "What should we do with him?" She asked. Anko looked at him again before looking at Maya. Naruto looked at them before looking at the down warrior. He frowned not really liking the situation. He already knew what was coming.

"You captured him…he's…" She stopped before turning her head. At that very moment a kunai flew into his neck. He barely let out a sound as blood flowed from his throat. Anko's quickly turned her head to Naruto who slowly made his way toward him.

"He's done." Naruto said with a monotonous voice. Anko looked at him blinking, surprised at his sudden action. Maya stared too wondering what caused him to do that. Naruto expected such a stare from the two but he didn't have much to say. He grabbed hold of the kunai before ripping it out of his throat. He stared at the blade for a brief moment before looking at his teacher. "We should get going…. we probably won't have much time before somebody realizes we took out these two." Naruto said. Anko narrowed her eyes a little before nodding.

"You're right." She said standing. "Let's head out." She said. She leapt up to the treetops. Maya continued to stare for a moment before catching Naruto's eyes. He stared at her frowning before tilting his head. He moved over to her side. She stared raising her right eyebrow. Naruto quickly moved his free hand up lightly smacking her behind. She jumped quickly moving her hands to her butt. Her eyes widen before she growled at Naruto.

"Let's go. Hebi-sensei is not the waiting type." Naruto said smiling. Maya blinked at him frowning. She narrowed her eyes before swinging her nodachi at him. He ducked under it quickly before shaking his head. "Not now…. later." he said before turning and jumping into the treetops. Maya let her arm drop down staring off after him.

'….He's….acting strangely.' She thought before looking at the two corpses. She looked away from them quickly before jumping up after Naruto.

The three ninja navigated the forest expertly. Anko was surprised at the two of them. She figured there would be a slip up at some point during the infiltration stage. But there was none. She had to say she was impressed. She stopped in a bush near the eastern most walls. She turned around a waited for a moment before Maya and Naruto landed right in front of her. She nodded at the two expressing her approval. They passed at least fifteen sentries since Naruto killed the duo. And they were none the wiser. These two will make quite the ninja.

Anko turned slightly and looked out to the area. She could see one of the smaller houses in front of her, about 30 yards away. A little bit off the side of it she spotted just the back of another one of the structures. She had to say it would be about 100 yards apart. She glanced to her right and spotted another building about 50 yards from their current position. She hummed lowly before looking back at her students. There was forty-two ronin on guard before. They passed seventeen on their way there including the two Naruto killed. Then there was just about twenty-five left. Including the shinobi that is here, it rose to twenty-eight. She looked up just in time to see Naruto be pulled over a little by Maya. She blinked and looked at her.

"There is someone patrolling on the right side." Maya whispered. Anko nodded drawing a kunai. She positioned it to her left side and raised it enough to look toward the houses. She noticed a single man walking down near the furthest building. She hummed before looking at Naruto; his blonde hair would be quite easy to spot. She frowned and Maya seemed to catch on. She grabbed his headband quickly before pulling the cloth out. Naruto stared at her as she put it back on him in a bandana like fashion, covering most of his head. Naruto blinked not liking it being on his head in such a way. Anko nodded at it, it would effectively keep him hidden when he was concealed.

"So what should we do?" Naruto asked fiddling with the cloth of his head bandana.

"We need to scout out the area a little to know the positions of everyone around." Anko said.

"Ok…" Naruto said starting to move. "I'll take care of …." Before he could finish the back of his shirt was grabbed and he was pulled back. He blinked and looked at Anko who was staring at him intensely.

"No. You two stay here." Anko said. Naruto blinked almost confused.

"Why?" Maya asked.

"I told you two before. This is simply a trial run. It would be best if you two watch how I do this before jumping in." Anko said. Naruto blinked frowning.

"Isn't doing it the best way to learn?" He asked. Anko lightly hit him on the head to which she noticed he tried to dodge. She hit him again just for trying it.

"Not in every situation and especially in this one." She said watching him rub his head. He gave her a light glare to which she smiled at. She placed her hand on his head and let out a low breath. "No need to rush into this." Anko said. Naruto nodded again pouting a little.

"So…should we wait right here?" Maya asked. Anko shook her head coming up with an idea. She grinned before digging in her pouch.

"You two will be my look outs." She said taking out three headsets. Naruto eyes lit up.

"Awesome." He said holding his hand out. Anko grinned at him dropping it into his hand. She looked over at Maya and handed it to her.

After explaining how to use it, how it work, and helping put it on Naruto correctly Anko left the safety of the bushes. She left Maya and Naruto on the treetops so they had a good view of the field. She started off with going to the right heading towards the guard Maya spotted. He wasn't visible just yet meaning he was around one of the buildings. She was fast enough to at least get the second house he was at before he popped up again. "Sksss. Hebi-sensei can you hear me?" Naruto's voice came out lowly from the headset. She simply nodding knowing he could see her perfectly. "Good. You are coming up to one guy. He's in the alley between the two buildings." He informed her. "But be careful. The first guy we saw is further down around the house in front of you." Naruto said. She nodded jumping up. She added chakra into her feet and turned her body so her feet were near the wall. She managed to capture it before crouching against it. She was at least ten feet from the ground. She added chakra to her hands and pressed her palms. She crawled forward just above the doghouse and stayed there. She drew another kunai and used it as a mirror to see between the houses. She saw him standing at the end of the alley with her back turned towards her. She moved her kunai back and prepared to move to the roof.

"Hold on Sensei." Maya said. Anko stopped blinking a little. "There seems to be someone in the window of the main house. I can't make out who it is." Maya said. "He's glancing around the area." She said. Anko let out a low curse before putting the kunai back out. She tilted it up and looked at the main house. She could make out a figure in the window like Maya said but could not determine any features. She hummed before shifting it back at the samurai.

"Hebi-sensei, stay there for a few moments." Naruto said. "The guy who we saw before is making his way around towards the front of the main house. At his pace he should be back in five minutes." She nodded wondering how correct he was. "The man in the alley will begin to move after the guy moves from the window." She blinked at this. How in the hell would he know that? She heard Maya over the headset voice her thoughts. "Because he seems to be looking there." Naruto replied.

"No he's not." Maya said.

"That's because he started looking around when you looked at me." He replied.

"Hey….no arguing." Anko said.

"Alright." They both replied. Anko decided to take Naruto's suggestion and stayed in position. She waited for two minutes listening to any type of movement.

"He left the window…." Anko heard. "Wow…you are right he is moving now." Maya said surprised.

"Told you." He replied. "Sensei he's out of our sight." Anko nodded again before grabbing onto the top of the house. She leapt up landing on the flat roof carefully.

"The man in the house is moving around, move quickly sensei." Maya let out. Anko moved quickly jumping across the roof the next one. She was silent as she landed.

"Damn sensei…. You have a nice ass." Anko nearly fell at Naruto's comment.

"Idiot, don't distract her with that." Came next. Anko almost tripped up and laughed but settled with a grin. She stopped near the edge of the building, close enough to see over the edge but far enough away not to be seen. She couldn't see anything directly below her and that was good. She turned her head to her left to see the back of the guy still walking towards the front of the main house. She hummed out backing up a little.

"Hey sensei…wouldn't it be easier to take them all out?" Naruto asked. Anko blinked before turning and lying on her back. She grabbed the wire and moved the small rectangular box towards her mouth.

"Not all the time." Anko whispered. "When entering an enemy's territory; to kill one guard means killing them all." Anko added.

"Why?" Naruto asked confused.

"Without knowing one's movement, you can draw suspicion from others that they has met with during patrols. Without them meeting again they become aware of him missing so they seek to look for him." She added.

"Sensei, the guys walking below you." Maya said. Anko closed her mouth dropping the wire. She turned onto her stomach and looked below her. Maya was right. The man from the alley was below her. She looked back toward the man who was now in front of the house. She took a deep breath.

"Sensei." Naruto's whisper caught her attention. "I don't think you have a choice in this mission. You will probably have to kill quite a few of them to get close enough to the target." Naruto said. Anko stared at the man below. She mulled over his suggestion, she knew there was a good number around and in the complex. She would need to take out more than just a few. "Sensei….If you need it…I can meet you over there and help you take them out." Naruto said. Anko narrowed her eyes slightly, like she would need help from a genin. She wouldn't lie and say it wouldn't make it easier but she wasn't putting them in danger.

"Naruto" She heard Maya hiss out. Anko pretty much just tuned them out now. She had decided to follow Naruto's suggestion. The question is how? She could summon snakes but that might cause more of a commotion then she needed. She might have to do this the old fashion way. She took out a kunai and watched the man below her sigh loudly before turning around and staring his trek back. Anko decided she should actually begin. She blinked realizing there was movement towards her right, near a tree. "Sensei!" Anko blinked actually hearing Maya's voice. She glanced back toward where Maya should be at before looking at the tree. "Naruto moved over to your location." She said. Anko could tell there was a lot of anger in her voice. She was getting a little ticked as well. Did her beating his ass not have any affect?

"Naruto" She whispered over the headset. There was no answer. Her mouth twitched a little. "Naruto." Her whisper was harsh enough to draw a sound from the bushes but no sound from Naruto. She glared now. She opened her mouth again but stopped noticing the man walking back over. He was behind the house now. He didn't seem to notice her purple hair. She stared at him just as a rustle was heard. She frowned narrowing her eyes.

"Huh?" The man under her let out. She growled preparing her kunai. The man drew his katana slowly. Anko bit her lip lifting herself up.

"Sensei…The other man." Maya said. Anko glanced to the side frowning. The ronin below her began to walk closer to the tree.

"Souichi. What's the matter?" The ronin from the alley let out. The man named Souichi looked back and put his finger to his mouth. The ronin narrowed his eyes a little before looking at the tree. Souichi looked also and they both moved slowly towards the tree. Anko watched them carefully watching the second guy. She would attack when Naruto did. In a minute the man made it into the bushes and behind the tree. He was out of sight but no sound was heard. Anko raised an eyebrow as the ronin, Souichi walk out from around the tree. "Was there anything there?" The ronin asked.

"Naw. False alarm. It was just a chipmunk." Souichi said.

"You idiot, you had me worried for a little bit." He said.

"Sorry, Murayoshi-san." Souichi said.

"Polite as ever." He said turning. Souichi walked forward.

"Murayoshi-san, question if I may." Souichi let out. Murayoshi turned around and looked at him.

"Yeah what is it?" He asked.

"Do you think anybody is stupid enough to actually attack tonight?" He asked.

"I don't know. He has us on guard just in case. The ninja-dude was quite specific about it." Murayoshi replied.

"Eh….I don't really like ninja too much. They are all shadowy and secretive." Souichi let out.

"Me too. But since that other guy died last night, he has been on edge." Murayoshi said. Souichi nodded at that. Anko blinked surprised.

'One of them died?' She thought narrowing her eyes.

"Well the less the better if you ask me." He said.

"Yeah, I agree." Murayoshi said.

"Hey by the way…wouldn't it have been a better idea to hide him away from the main house?" Murayoshi asked.

"Yea it would have, but there is no place safe enough. Plus there is an escape route leading from the house to the barracks behind the pond." Murayoshi let out.

"How did you know that?" Souichi asked suspiciously.

"Hmph. I like to know my surroundings….Plus like I said….I don't like ninja." He said closing his eyes.

Anko grinned. Thanks to Naruto she knew how to sneak in. She slowly slides her kunai back into her pouch getting ready to move. "Then you probably don't like me." Anko blinked hearing Souichi's words. She watched as Souichi's right fist was forced into Murayoshi's stomach. She watched him double over before a left fist came down sending him straight into the ground. Souichi waited for a bit before grabbing him by his neck and tossing him into the forest.

"Sensei…I think that's Naruto." Maya let out. Anko smiled before jumping down to the ground. Souichi blinked at Anko just as she landed in a slight crouch.

"Good job brat." She replied.

"Brat?" Naruto let out his voice going to normal. "I just got us some nice info." Naruto said.

"Hmph. You still disobeyed my order." Anko said her smile disappearing.

"Sorry I got inpatient." Naruto said.

"Anyway. Go back to Maya. I'll head over to the escape route he was talking about." Anko said.

"Ok…." Naruto said before walking towards Anko. She stared at him as he stopped a foot away from her. He stepped hard on the ground and a metal lid brought up, dirt and grass being flung off it. Anko blinked before looking at Naruto. Smoke took over his form and he changed back to his normal appearance. "It's right here." Naruto said.

"How did you know?" She asked completely surprised.

"I figured he might have fed him wrong info again…and here it is." Naruto said grinning happily.

"….We're going to have a long talk about your judging skills." Anko said walking around the hole. She placed her hand on his head to which he smiled at. His smile changed into a mischievous one as he leaned forward a little and reached up with both hands. His hands found her soft melons that he squeezed lightly. Anko's eyes widen surprised by the action a blush on her face.

"Would this talk involve us getting to know each other better?" He asked smiling. Anko blinked again before grinning lustfully. Naruto's smile slightly dropped at it. She leaned over getting closer to his face. She raised her right hand up and covered the speaker box of the headset.

"Hmmm." She hummed lowly. "Maybe….if that is what you wish for a reward for finding me a way in." She said sultrily. Naruto's eyes widen as his jaw dropped. In less than a second his entire face was red. His hands shook slightly before dropping. "Hmmm." Anko let out again moving her lips to his ear. "One as innocent as you shouldn't try to entice me…at least not yet…" She said. Naruto's eyes found hers as she moved back. She released her hold on the speaker box with a new smile on her face. "Now get over to Maya." She said. Naruto nodded dumbly as Souichi and Murayoshi walked from the brushes.

"Clones." Souichi said the moment she spotted them. Anko let out a sigh before nodding. Naruto turned slowly without a though and began to move. Anko watched him before grinning, slapping his butt. Naruto jumped and looked back at her.

"Hurry now, Naru-chan." She said smiling widely. Naruto nodded before dashing forward. She looked at the two clones as they looked at her.

"Um….what did you say to boss?" Souichi asked. Anko chuckled lowly before waving her hands.

"My secret. Now pretend to be them." She said. They both looked at each other before nodding and began to patrol. Anko looked down in the hole and found bars to climb down. She shrugged before beginning her descent. She grabbed the bar across the bottom of the lid and closed it as she lowered herself down.

Naruto got to the treetop across from Maya and sat against the trunk. He could feel Maya's stare but refused to look towards her. "Naruto….what did she say?" Maya asked after a moment. At that moment Naruto looked at her blinking slowly. The words played through his head and his face lit up again. He turned his head away from her and grumbled out a nothing. Maya raised her eyebrow before narrowing her eyes. She wasn't stupid enough to believe him. She saw him grab her breast. After the first time she saw him get beaten by her she knew what to expect. But Anko didn't do any of that; there was a look that Anko had on her face that she didn't like. "Hmmm." Maya let out looking forward. She put the binoculars to her eyes and looked over at the field she would put it out of her mind for now, but she was getting increasingly annoyed with this woman.

It passed twenty minutes with no sounds or anything being heard. Naruto was getting very paranoid they were told just about five minutes ago to maintain radio silence. So they did, Naruto and Maya filled the time with idle chatter…mainly about her growing attributes. This was a good way to hide his paranoia. Even better, she really couldn't come up and hit him…because they were on a mission. Naruto looked across at Maya as she looked into the house. Naruto hummed pressing his back up against the tree branch. "Hey Naruto…. doesn't this seem weird?" Maya asked.

"You mean how long it's taking sensei to return?" Naruto asked looking at her.

"No. I mean with everything." She said. "We are the only two genin team out of four teams. Don't you find that odd?" She asked. Naruto blinked at her slightly confused.

"Um…. Considering the fact that we were added to the class late…not really." Naruto said. Maya glanced over to him. He was right on that. They should have been added two years earlier. Maya growled out a little, they didn't put such a stipulation on Sasuke. "Relax Maya-chan. No idle thoughts while on a mission." Naruto said pressing the back of his head back against the tree. He looked ahead of him before closing his eyes. He took a deep breath trying to extend his senses. It took a minute but he could sense Anko's chakra but not enough to pinpoint her exact location. He could also sense another chakra near her….wait why could he only sense one? His eyes open and he looked over at Maya. He opened his mouth but closed it a second later opting not to tell her. He noticed she was looking completely into the binoculars and began to mold and channel chakra into his eyes. He felt his pupils change and a surge of sounds and image assault him. He gritted his teeth hearing nearby conversations. He took a deep breath and turned toward Maya applying a small genjutsu over his eyes.

"Maya-chan. I'll be back. I'm going to check on my clones." Naruto said. Maya looked at him quickly humming lightly.

"You think that's a good idea. Anko will probably be pissed if she finds out." Maya said. Naruto looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Eh. Don't worry sugar lumps. I'll be quick." Naruto said smiling. Maya hummed again before blinking.

"Did you just call me sugar lumps?" She asked. Naruto only grinned before he stepped back, dropping down towards the ground. Maya looked after him slightly glaring. "If you're going to give me a nickname at least make it cool and not…that." She mumbled to herself.

Naruto landed soundlessly before turning. He decided to take the route he did before moving through the trees around the compound. He stopped just about halfway there before turning a little more to his right. He ran quickly into, weaving through trees. He came to a small clearing and took a deep breath. "Yeah…I fucked up." Naruto said walking to the middle.

"Yeah….I would have to agree." A voice came from behind him. Naruto didn't turn he looked ahead almost as if expecting him.

"Well….the thing about life is that it's all about mistakes. I'll make sure not to repeat it." Naruto said with a light shrug.

"Heh…Hehehehe" Ranmura laughed loudly. "Funny. You almost sound like you believe will be walking out of here alive."

Naruto turned and looked at him and huge grin on his face. "Well, seeing is believing." Naruto replied drawing his sword.

"Well…I guess I will have to see this." Ranmura said. Naruto watched him disappear into the woods. Naruto lost his grin as he took on a serious expression. He took a deep breath channeling chakra throughout his legs and arms. He slid his left hand into his pouch drawing out a kunai. "My body is in good condition. No wounds as of yet." Naruto muttered to himself. "Chakra is decreasing at a steady rate will decrease greatly as this goes on." Naruto glanced around with a frown. "This man is good at stealth, close combat abilities unknown, senses are greater than my own. Experience, greater than mine." Naruto turned around quickly and moved his sword deflecting three kunai, one aiming at neck, his heart, and his side. "Only two advantages. Not a good situation." Naruto finished batting the three kunai back into the trees.

Naruto looked forward making sure not to move his eyes. He knew where he was for the most part. He could see the images of his form moving through the trees. He took deep breaths before leaning back. A kunai passed his face cutting him lightly underneath his left eye. Naruto's eyes shifted to the left growling as blood flowed down his face. He turned to his right quickly blasting off into the forest. He made it into the forest in three seconds flat. He reeled his arm back coming right up to Ranmura. Naruto saw the huge grin on his face just as he swung his sword at the ninja. Naruto watched the man as he jump back from his current position dodging Naruto sword by inches. Naruto had a very good answer for that though. With a flick of his wrist Naruto sent a kunai towards the heart of the young man.

Naruto had no legroom to mess around. He landed watching as the kunai hit the man. Naruto frowned jumping back from his spot. He began looking around as the man popped off into smoke. "You have good senses, boy." Ranmura said. Naruto glanced to the right spotting him up in a tree. Naruto merely stared; he heard the same thing from others. But he found his senses to be sub-par compared to quite a few others.

"Naruto" Naruto said.

"Hmmm?" Ranmura let out.

"Uzuamki Naruto is my name." Naruto said louder. Ranmura blinked before grinning. He already knew his name. Seiki made a slight mention of him. He watched him, noticing a look of expectation on his face. Ranmura's grin threatened to split his face in two.

"You're expecting me to say my name huh?" Ranmura asked humorously. Naruto nodded wondering why he found it funny. "I'll humor you before killing you I suppose." He said. "Ito, Ranmura." Ranmura replied giving a malicious smile. Naruto nodded excepting it.

"Nice to be officially acquainted." Naruto said turning towards him. Naruto's left hand moved quickly drawing a kuani and tossing it toward Ranmura. He ducked quickly dodging it with practical ease. His hands moved quickly together forming hand seals. Naruto growled quickly charging his chakra through his katana. Naruto dashed forward quickly leaping up to the tree. He watched Ranmura jump back before spitting out what looked to be a mud ball. He swung his sword quickly unleashing an arc of chakra to intercept it. Naruto watched the ball of mud get blasted away as he flew towards the tree trunk. He planted his feet on it before leaping forward heading towards the ninja who was currently trying to make some space between them.

Naruto frowned realizing the man was much faster than he was himself. He needed to catch up somehow. Naruto's eyes scanned the area before he stopped running. He jumped back gathering chakra into his feet and body. He took a deep breath looking forward. He raised his sword unconsciously gathering chakra into the tip of it before his spreading it to a dome like structure around him. His speed picked up in less than a second giving him quite the boost.

Ranmura grinned widely stopping on a tree branch. He turned looking back to try and spot the young boy. He hummed wondering if he would have to….oh god in heaven. Ranmura leaned back falling without a second to spare barely dodging the sharp pointed blade of a katana. He stared up as Naruto passed by the branch in a blur. He was able to follow him as sped right into a tree, his sword piercing the tree.

Naruto frowned his face in pain. He was moving pretty fast but not how and why just yet. He would have to repeat that alone. It was pretty interesting and would allow for quick kills. Now if only he didn't get tunnel vision when it happened. Naruto planted his feet on the bark of the tree and tried to pull his sword from the wood. Naruto frowned when it didn't budge. He gathered chakra into his legs and hands and tried again letting out a huge huff as he did so. "Damn It!" Naruto let out a second before he propelled away from the tree, the sword coming with him. Naruto's momentum was stopped by a thick tree branch, which nearly gave way to Naruto's back. Naruto grunted lowly his back in pain as he fell. He managed to regain himself and safely landed in a crouch at the base of the tree. "Ow, ow, ow, ow." Naruto mumbled. His eyes widen briefly before he rolled to his left. During his roll he managed to see Ranmura with a kunai stabbed into the tree, which he was just in front of. He came to his feet he propelled himself towards Ranmura positioning his katana to pierce him. Ranmura grinned parrying the attack with his kunai sending the blade and Naruto to his right.

Naruto reacted quickly leaping slightly as the small distance between them became smaller. He noticed a slight widening of Ranmura eyes as he planted his feet on his raised knee and used it to jump higher. Naruto managed to turn in air drawing three kunai before hurling it towards the missing nin. Naruto watched as his kunai collided with Ranmura's, only noticing a second late that he threw four kunai not three. Naruto tried to lean his body so he could dodge but found it to be the wrong course of action when the kunai found a nice and comfy home in the joint between his collarbone and his shoulder. Naruto hissed in pain as he landed. His hand quickly moved up grabbing the kunai and bringing it out in a violent rip.

Naruto didn't have much more time to recover when Ranmura came dashing toward him his hands going through a set of seals. Naruto took the action as a sort of challenge and dashed at him. Again a slight hint of surprise was seen on his face. Ranmura moved his hands apart a kunai quickly coming into his hand. Naruto swung his blade but this time it was blocked by the ninja's kunai. Naruto pressed into it glaring hard at the man. "Your skills in prediction are beyond comprehension." Ranmura let out. "No wonder Jinsuke was killed. He was always a one dimensional person." He said. Naruto grunted pushing a little harder. He had to wonder why the fuck it mattered. "Too bad for you that I'm a two dimensional person." He said grinning. Naruto blinked at that.

"What?" Naruto let out confused.

"Are you sure everything going to be alright?" A middle-aged man let out behind a desk. Seiki looked at the man with a blank look. He was really starting to hate this job. Sure the money was good but this idiot was just useless. Seiki stared at him for a minute. His greased up black hair matted down to his head, his brown eyes that gleamed with so much worry. He glanced at his black business suit and red tie. He looked back up to him and disgust came upon him. He looked away with a light sigh.

"Relax Gorou-san. Everything will be fine." Seiki said wondering why did he ever decide to sigh up with this fearful man. As soon as Jinsuke died this guy whole demeanor changed. He hated weaklings. But this weakling paid good so he would stick around for a while longer or at least until he got paid. At that moment Seiki's eyes moved to the door, a subtle scent entering his nose. A grin appeared on his face. Finally his boredom would end. "Anko-chan, Anko-chan. How nice it is to be in your presences once again." Seiki said stepping towards the door.

"Who are you…" Gorou let out before the door opened up. His eyes snapped over to the door and he spotted the purple haired kunoichi holding one of his ronin guards by the neck. His face lit up with fear before he steeled himself believe the ninja he was paying would be enough to take care of this intruder.

Anko looked from Seiki to her target Gorou. She looked back at Seiki and a grinned appeared on her face. "It's too bad that that's not a shared feeling." Anko replied.

"That's usually how it is with us guys." Seiki said shrugging. "We like a girl but they never share our feelings."

"That's not our fault. If we don't like the guy, we don't like the guy." Anko said smiling brightly.

"What the hell are you doing? Get rid of her!" Gurou shouted. Seiki's eyes went to him for a second. But the second was enough to send the message of shut the fuck up.

"Uh, uh, uh. But we can like little boys eh?" Seiki said as if Gurou never interrupted. Anko's eyes slightly narrowed at the insinuation but the smile never left her face.

"Well when that boy is more of a man then a lot of men these days it's kinda hard not to." She replied. Seiki's eyes twitched at that. Did she just say Naruto was more of a man than him? Bull shit. She barely even knew him. They met what only three time for goodness sake. He asked her out once and she shot him down but Naruto does the same a few minutes later she goes? Seiki chose this time to repress any more thoughts and lingering feelings he had.

"Hmph. I wonder how much of a man he could be? Considering the fact that he's only twelve. He probably hasn't even grown hair yet." Seiki said. Anko smile increased at that statement.

"I'm glad you aren't a pedophile." She said. Seiki had to blink at that. What would being a p…his thought process ceased at the slight indication that this woman has done things with that boy.

Anko couldn't be happier at this little exchange. After all getting this bastard angry was fun as fuck. Never mind the fact that she just basically called herself a pedophile or at least insinuated that she saw him naked. She still won. Hah! She couldn't wait to tell Naruto. Before any more words could be said Anko tossed the ronin fast at the leaf traitor. Soundlessly three snakes flew from her sleeve as a kunai came to her left hand. She tossed it at the Gurou only for it to be intercepted by Seiki. She smirked staring at Seiki who was crouched down and the ronin behind him.

"Come on entertain me more." Seiki let out grinning.

Naruto flew back into a tree before rolling around to the back of it. He heard three loud thumps behind him and frowned panting lightly. Sweat pour down his face like heavy rain, his heart was pounding like a drum. Just the amount of effort he had to put into each movement and attack he gave was unreal. In the last five minutes he could have died over a hundred times if his eyes didn't save him. But as time went on his eyes became a liability. He realized that predicting his moves and countering was something he could do flawlessly, but countering the counter to his counter was something he needed a lot more practice with. This man figured out that I could only do so much. So this was a fight with a jounin who was truly trying to kill him. The fight with Zabuza and Jinsuke didn't even compare to this. Well fighting hebi sensei did. Damn maybe Maya was right. Maybe it was a fluke. Unknowingly a smile slowly spread on Naruto's face.

He wiped the blood from his chin and calmed his breath. In a second he burst from the back of the tree. Two kunai hit the tree where his head just was. He looked to his right twirling his sword around before holding it in a lowered position. He could see Ranmura running through the forest, there was something else, something that intrigued him. He looked forward putting it to the back of his head. Naruto gathered chakra into his feet before running straight up a tree. He got to the top before jumping off. He saw three kunai speed up the tree as he flipped. He made his crossed hand seal before five clones popped up in front of him.

The clone directly in front of him was hit in his chest and his right shoulder with two kunai a second later before disappearing. Naruto growled out. The clone on Naruto's right grabbed his tattered clothes and pulled him away throwing him further into the forest. Naruto flew fast noticing three kunai speed passed him. He growled looking at Ranmura. Fighting a jonin who wasn't underestimating him was really too much for him alone. Naruto turned his head and extended his right foot using chakra to stick to it. He didn't stay there for more than a second before jumping off. He wasn't running it was a temporary retreat.

Naruto was able to run for just about three minutes before the images of his clone's destruction appeared in his mind. He panted deciding to drop to the forest floor. He prepared his sword as he dropped down, the leaves of the branches scratching his skins as he decided. When he was almost completely down he kicked off the tree heading toward the man who he knew was in the area. His knowledge proved correct when his blade speared through the neck of a ronin who had enough of a chance to dodge but was not able to react in time. Naruto took him to the ground, his blade piercing the dirt. Naruto breathed out tiredly trying to recover a little. He stood up off the man as said man gurgled blood, his hands coming to his neck. Naruto drew his blade from the ground before turning. He leaned down grabbing the sword of the samurai with his left hand.

Naruto blinked his head starting to hurt. He shook his head ignoring it before taking a practice swing of his new sword. He spread his legs slightly, sliding his right leg back. He tilted his torso just enough to hide most of his right arm. He pointed the blade out so it was unseen by any who was in front of him. At that Naruto took another breath deciding to wait in this position.

Naruto closed his eyes listening to the forest around him. It was quiet, too quiet almost quiet enough to what he was used to at home. The slight rustling of the leaves calmed his heart allowing him to think a little. Naruto's breathing became calm as he opened his eyes; his sharp pupils gazing ahead. Ranmura would appear to his right of him first. Three kunai will be thrown aiming at his kidney, heart and neck. Once Naruto blocked them Ranmura will appear behind him. The attack seemed to be one that would kill him. Naruto reapplied the genjutsu realizing it was off before taking another breath. He wondered how long it would take for this to happen.

It was less than five minutes before Naruto turned sharply to his right, slicing the kunai that came at him. Naruto smiled looking at the kunai that was flying towards his neck rise up above his head after the hit from his sword. Naruto continued with his momentum, spinning completely raising his right arm, positioning his katana to block the incoming blow. He watched Ranmura head tilt back dodging the redirected kunai before the kunai hit his sword. Naruto drew his left hand back quickly before spearing his katana through the ninja. Naruto took in deep breaths his eyes narrowing. He growled out seeing the glow of chakra. But he noticed something was missing from when he normally looked at people. He turned as quickly as possible an image appearing before his eyes that answered his unasked question perfectly. He moved his right arm it's position realizing there was no longer any threat from the one in front of him. He swung it fast in a diagonal slant upward cutting through a head sized rock. The two pieces hit the ground by his sizes barely missing him.

Naruto let out a breath feeling a huge weight on his sword. He removed his blade hearing rocks fall to the ground. Naruto got back into his stance looking at the forest. It was easy for him to spot the glow of human chakra through the forest. He was moving towards the left. Naruto would wait to see what he did. Naruto's eyes widen when man suddenly disappeared from view, the image of what's next already appearing before his eyes. He turned as quickly as he could, raising both his swords together so they formed a cross. A large sharp rock like form hit the kunai and pressed down upon him. Naruto stared with a look of surprise on his face. He managed to tear his eyes away from it and stare up at the man who wielded it. "Thought you could escape from me?" Ranmura let out pushing against the blade. At that Naruto grunted gathering chakra to his feet and arms so he could at least stand in place. He would not deceive himself by thinking he was stronger than this man.

"No. But here's a question to your question." Naruto replied. Naruto saw Ranmura's eyebrow lift up as he pushed down a little harder. "How exactly did you create this?" Naruto asked glancing at the sword like rock. Ranmura blinked seeing Naruto's eyes sparkle expectantly.

"Really? You want to know how I did this when you're about to die?" Ranmura let out humorously.

"Soooo….erhh." Naruto started with a grunt his arms slightly giving way. "You won't tell me?" Naruto said his voice containing blatant disappointment. Ranmura stared to laugh putting his whole weight into it.

"You are hilarious boy!" Ranmura shouted out

"Don't call me boy." Naruto grunted pushing as hard as he could. His arms shook as he tried to stop the heavy weapon. "My name is Naruto!" Naruto let out. Ranmura continued to laugh before something caught his attention. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on edge giving him the thought that something was behind him. He moved quickly to the right letting his rock weapon breath apart. He went into a quick roll as a swords clashed with Naruto's blades.

Naruto dropped to his butt at the force of the attack and the rock that just dropped on his face. He turned his head and quickly wiped it away. He blinked his eyes widening quite a bit in surprise "M-M-Maya-chan?" Naruto let out questionable staring up at the girl. Maya looked down at him glaring slightly. Naruto blinked realizing she was checking his body over. This drew his eyes to his body. He realized he took quite the blows for this guy. He was stabbed a couple of times and had a wound on his face.

Naruto saw her grit her teeth before glaring at the man. He wondered how mad she was at him. "Hm….What do we have here?" Ranmura asked standing. "Did your girlfriend come to die with you?" He asked. Naruto's eyes rose up before narrowing dangerously. Did he just threaten Maya-chan?

"Heh." Maya let out. "You talk really big for somebody who's beating on a kid." Maya said. Naruto looked at her before raising an eyebrow. Did she just call him a kid?

"What can I say? Beating on kids is a hobby of mine." Ranmura shot back. "Actually I might just make this a full occupation." He said grinning. Maya tilted her head.

"Well. You should probably rethink that. You are doing a horrible job at it." Maya replied.

"I think I did a pretty good job." Ranmura fired back. "Look at him. He's beaten horribly." Ranmura said.

"Huh?" Maya said glancing at him. "You call this horribly." Maya said. "A swollen cheek, bloody lip, a stab wound, a slice wound across his cheek? That's it? That's the best you.." Maya stopped quickly drawing two kunai and flinging them at the man. A grin played across his face as he leaped out of the path of the kunai, responding with two of his own. At that Naruto was up and deflected both kunai with his blades. Ranmura smirked leaning his head to his right.

"Heh! Finally ready to fight are you?" He asked. Naruto merely glared. Maya leaned forward over his shoulder glaring at the man.

"I couldn't get ahold of Anko-sensei. This situation is a little too bad for us. We should run." Maya said. Naruto glanced back at her his eyes showing his seriousness.

"Maya-chan…. We can't do that." Naruto said. Maya blinked keeping an eye on Ranmura. "This guy is the sensor. The only way for us to leave is to defeat this guy." Naruto explained.

"Tch. And how do you expect us to take him out." Maya asked. A huge grin made its way across his face.

"Our normal way. You attack I block for you and create openings." Naruto said.

"And you think that will work?" She asked in disbelief.

"Of course it will. This guy won't be easy but we can do it…..Just stay by me and I'll protect you." Naruto said smiling. Maya blinked almost insulted.

"You protect me? Please. I'll be the one protecting you." Maya replied walking around to stand in front of him.

"Heh! Ok sweet heart. Lets see who protects who." Naruto said.

"Oh please. You both won't even be able to protect yourself let alone each other." Ranmura said. Maya grinned at him before jumping up high into the air. Naruto watched as Ranmura's eyes moved with Maya he quickly dashed heading over towards his right. He made a large arc moved towards the missing nin preparing both of his blades to do him in. Naruto narrowed his eyes noticing his eyes lock on to him. But it was no problem what he wanted was already done. Naruto reached him in less then a second swinging both of his swords at the man.

"Tch!" Naruto let out watching the man leap back out of range of his attack. A grin grew on his face when he saw a large fireball rain down on him. He watched as the fire burned the ground, which Ranmura was on. When Naruto's feet hit the ground he quickly tossed both of his blades up before putting his hands together. His eyes narrowed before he changed the sign his hands made to a cross. At that moment five clones came to life each from a plume of smoke.

The five clones dashed around arcing around the fire while Naruto threw his hands up catching the two blades as they came down. He hissed in pain as his left hand slide around the blade of the katana. He glanced at it frowning before quickly tossing it up, grabbing onto the hilt as it came by. Blood coated the hilt of the sword as Naruto dashed back toward Maya. He made a quick decision to sheath the blade in his right hand before jumping up towards Maya. He saw a huge spear pierce through the fire aiming for Maya. He managed to wrap his free arm around her pulling her with him.

He redirected his body securing Maya in his arms and positioning his body towards the tree they heading for. He landed on it before pushing himself off. He managed to catch a glimpse of his clones fighting Ranmura near the area of the burns. Naruto flipped landing on the ground before placing Maya down. "So he managed to dodge it." Maya said.

"Yeah. So we know for a fact that this guy is a rock ninja." Naruto said. Maya nodded at that and Naruto frowned. "Shit that's a clone." Naruto added. Maya blinked and looked at him confused. At that Naruto barely felt a small tremor. An image of rock pillars appeared before his eyes before turning to Maya. "Jump!" He shouted. Maya reacted as quickly as he did and jumped up just as three pillars rose from the ground causing a massive shockwave.

Naruto and Maya escaped the brute that was the shockwave but the pillars proved to be the bigger obstacle. "Maya-chan!" Naruto let out flipping in air. She looked down at him as his feet came in contact with hers. She blinked but got the idea before crouching down preparing to jump. He bent his knees before thrusting them up. Maya managed to time her jump right and was propelled high into the air by the force. She looked back down at Naruto as he flipped. She saw one of the pillars raise up right under him at a fast speed.

"Naruto!" She shouted out. He moved his right leg out quickly and brought it back smashing against the rock tip before it could reach its full height. He managed to push his body out of the way of it gathering chakra into his feet. He flipped again so he was horizontal and placed his foot on the opposite tower. His feet stuck to it before he crouched down placing his knuckles on the rock face. It took only a few more seconds before they reached their full height. Naruto blinked frowning, the pillars broke through the tops of the trees extending well over sixty feet.

Now Naruto wasn't afraid of heights, not by a long shot but at the moment it was kind of overwhelming. "Naruto!" He heard. He tilted his head back leaning his body back so he could spot Maya. He blinked seeing an image of a wire coming at him. He realized what it was for and smiled. He quickly stabbed his katana into the rock face and raised his right hand up just as the wire came at him. He caught it easily before rolling his arm around it, getting a good amount around his wrist. He yanked on it hard feeling it cut into his wrist. He paid no mind to it watching as Maya was pulled forward at high speed. The moment she reached him he released the wire before wrapping his arm around her. That didn't stop him from being slammed into the rock. He managed to hang on to her holding in his grunt. "You ok?" She asked.

"Yeah….You're breasts are really soft." Naruto said. Maya slightly glared at him gathering chakra into her feet.

"Thanks. They provide a nice cushion from me." She replied back.

"Nice to know. I'll be sure to use you as a pillow when we get back." He replied. Her glare lightened a bit as she placed her feet on the rock.

"If we get back safely. I'll let you do it…..in exchange for letting me wear your boxers again." Maya said. Naruto looked at her before nodding.

"Deal." Naruto said. She moved a little to his side and he released her. She stared down slightly put off by the height.

"Fuck…too high." She said. Naruto looked at her as he looked back down.

"I know….Isn't it exciting?" He asked grinning.

"Sure. If you…" Maya stopped her sentence noticing movement to her right. She turned quickly causing Naruto to look at her. He blinked seeing Ranmura on the other pillar.

"Fuck." Naruto said drawing his katana from the rock. "We need to get down." Naruto said. Maya nodded before doing another set of hand seals. Naruto glanced at her realizing she was doing the fire missile she learned from Anko. Fire flew from her mouth toward the ninja. He took a leapt back getting higher up the pillar before leaping towards the two genin. Naruto narrowed his eyes jumping towards the man seeing him draw a two kunai. Upon reaching him Naruto let out a barrage of slashes toward him. Each one was parried with Ranmura's kunai. Naruto growled out as the before he raised his right foot up at the same time as Ranmura. They both kicked off each other returning back to their original pillar.

The moment Naruto landed he glanced back at Maya before dashing down the rock slab. "Maya-chan, Kunai and explosive tags." Naruto said the wind blowing against his clothing. Maya nodded barely hearing him. She quickly drew five already prepared kunai with tags attached to them. She spotted Ranmura jumping across to join them on their slab as Naruto sheathed his sword. Naruto pulled out kunai of his own before turning back. They both threw their kunai towards the man. Naruto narrowed his eyes again noticing him doing a few hand seals. He stopped his run before placing his hand on the rock. He glanced in front of him before looking back watching as a thick rock slab was brought out from the pillar blocking the kunai.

Maya eyes widen realizing what would happen. She glanced at the other two pillars at her side before looking at Naruto who was slightly breaking away from her. "Shit." She let out running a little fast as an explosion went off above them. Maya blinked as a slab rose up in front of her. She barely changed her direction in time to dodge it before looking at Naruto as he did so with ease. Maya glanced back seeing quite a few chucks of rocks heading down towards them. She frowned looking forward again noticing Naruto slowing down. Maya quickly stepped to her left hitting her right foot on the slab that just rose. She managed to recover enough not to fall before Naruto turned quickly and grabbed her right hand. She blinked as he ran to the left most edge of the pillar pulling her with him. He looked back at her before mouthing out a release you're chakra.

Maya nodded and let her hold of the wall go. The next thing she knew was that she was getting spun around with him before getting thrown toward the pillar that was on their left. She managed to make it quickly gathering chakra to her feet to stick to it before shaking her head trying to stop her vision from spinning. When she did she noticed Naruto had turned around and started running up towards the falling debris.

Naruto ran fast before jumping from the slab to one of the large rock chucks that fell. He noticed two kunai came his way just as he landed. He quickly leaped off the rock getting to another piece just as Ranmura made his appearance. He tossed two kunai at the Naruto as Naruto placed his foot on the next rock. He leapt off it quickly heading for another rock on his left. Before Naruto could land this time Ranmura appeared in front of him kunai raised. Naruto raised his sword to parry the knife only for it to slip by his guard. It cut lightly against Naruto's chest going down slicing straight through his red shirt. Naruto growled moving his sword downward quickly trying to slice Ranmura. Naruto saw Ranmura's smirk as he used the other kunai to block the attack. "Fuck" Naruto whispered drawing the sword back. He noticed Ranmura was about to attack again only to stop, jumping back to dodge some shuriken send their way. Naruto blinked as they flew by him. He glanced to his right spotting Maya moving at the same speed he was falling.

Naruto looked back at Ranmura as he tossed five shuriken at Maya. He was barely able to keep track of the speed they flew but he already realized he would not be able to deflect them in time. Naruto watched his eyes wide as two of the shuriken was deflected by Maya's nodachi while the other three grazed her right arm, cheek and right leg. Naruto growled looking back at Ranmura before leaping at him making a cross seal. In a second three clones appeared, one behind him and one on either side of him. The one behind him grabbed Naruto quickly before spinning around. He quickly threw Naruto the distance to the pillar but his aim was slightly off. Naruto growled a little realizing it quickly; he rapidly wrapped the wire that was still around his wrist to his sword before throwing it hard towards the slab. It pierced the rock easily as Naruto flew by the slab.

He nearly regretted it feeling a slight pinch on his wrist before he grabbed the wire and held on. Naruto grip didn't loosen as he swung back quickly towards the slab. Just as he got there Maya appeared in his path before grabbing him tightly. She was pushed back from the middle to the edge. She nearly slipped off but Naruto managed to place his feet on it before taking a step back pulling her with him. She let out a sigh of relief before releasing Naruto. She quickly turned and ran up the pillar, grabbing Naruto's sword before pulling it out from the stone. She ran back down glancing at the other pillar. She spotted Ranmura stepping on one of Naruto's clones while the other two hung in the air impaled on his kunai.

She frowned stopping in front of Naruto. "Lets get to the ground now." She said. Naruto nodded as she handed him the blade. Naruto looked down and nodded they were just about 65 feet up. That would be fine. Naruto dashed ahead of Maya and she followed. Naruto started to unwrap the wire around his wrist and sword before discarding it. Both of them broke through the treetops heading down at a quick pace. Naruto blinked his eyes widening before narrowing. He released the chakra from his feet allowing himself to fall, slowly moving away from the wall. He turned in the air redirecting his chakra from his feet to his sword. He spotted three head sized rocks shooting towards them. He swung his sword horizontally slicing through the first that came at him unleashing his chakra out. He saw the kunai hidden behind the rock he sliced through get blown away along with the other two rocks as he dropped.

Naruto flipped quickly landing on a thick branch. Naruto turned and looked up quickly spotting Ranmura who landed on the slab of rock he was on a moment before. He had an extra wound on his face but a smile was still there. Naruto saw the man's hand speed through seals. Naruto frowned a second before the stone shifted almost looking like liquid before a wolf head protruding from the rock. Naruto head tilted surprised, sure he seen it before it came out but looking at it in the realm of now somehow made it look cooler. Naruto blinked seeing paws come out next before the complete form of a large stone wolf came. Naruto overcame his awe as the feet foot high wolf dashed forward before jumping down toward him. "Oh shit." Naruto let out. He quickly took a shot jump back falling from his current position. He could hear the impact of the wolf's paw hitting the branch as he kicked off the tree truck heading to a new tree all together. He landed on another branch and quickly dropped from it grabbing the branch with his hand before swinging to another one. It was only a second before a loud thump was heard.

Naruto moved fast sweat pouring down his face. He barely had a second to get off each branch once he got to it as he descended quickly. Naruto jumped to another tree now able to see the ground much clearer. He was already halfway to the ground when an image came before his eyes. "Fuck." Naruto let out turning. He quickly raised his knees up and moved his sword in front of him. He braced against it with his left hand just as the wolf's large claw bashed into him. Naruto shifted his body quickly as he was pushed hard sending him to the base of a tree. Naruto hit the trunk hard cracking it. Naruto arm with lax for a second before he raised it up once again his eyes narrowed. Naruto's let out a loud grunt just as the claw bashed into him. His eyes widen feeling the great pressure of the rock creature push up against his chest. The sword and his arm pressed back against him didn't feel good either. He gritting his teeth trying to push back against the wolf but finding himself completely overpower. He looked up at the wolf as it thrust its head forward aiming form Naruto's head.

Naruto's eyes shifted to his right as Maya appeared her sword coming down fast. The teeth of the large stone beast stopped a few inches from his face before it fell, along with it's arm freeing Naruto who was panting hard. The rest of the wolf's body didn't last a second longer as Maya picked up her blade. Naruto stared at her noticing she was panting heavily. "You…huff… okay?" She let out.

"Yeah…Thanks." Naruto said trying to stand. He nearly fell over but Maya made sure he didn't land on his face. She held him for a second before he was able to stabilize himself. Naruto shook his head a little trying to regain his composure. Maya watched him as he breathed at a rapid pace. She glared turning her head towards Ranmura who was crouched on a tree above them.

Naruto wiped the blood from his lips on his sleeves, looking at Ranmura. His eyes switched to Maya taking a look at her body. His eyes narrowed spotting light cuts littered her dark clothing and her skin. He growled lowly noticing three shallow cuts on her right cheek. He growled looking back at Ranmura slightly upset at the entire situation. If he had not been spotted before, all this trouble would not be on him. Naruto looked back at Maya, she looked worst for wear but better than him currently. He needed to think, there had to be a way to kill this guy. His eyes are good but it was not good enough for this. "Naruto." Maya whispered Naruto glanced at her before his eyes went back to Seiki.

"I know….We have to draw him in." He said in between pants.

"Yeah I have a plan for that." Maya said. Crotch

"Shoot. I'm all ears." Naruto said.

"Create some clones. Ten if possible." She said. Naruto looked at her and nodded. He quickly made the seal as a kunai came right towards his head. Just as he leaned his head to the side Maya nodachi came up knocking the kunai above him.

'Shadow clone jutsu.' Naruto thought smiling. In a second thirty puffs of smoke rose from around them each accompanied by a popping sound. A second later the clouds blew away leaving thirty copies of Naruto. Maya nodded in approved slightly surprised he still had enough chakra for this many. Then again she only saw him use shadow clones and his chakra arc. She could hear the drawing of the on each of their backs before they took on a dual wielding stance.

All thirty of them was quiet, their eyes narrowed solely on Ranmura. He narrowed his eyes taking on a serious face. He wouldn't admit it but this boy was quite something. It took at least two minutes to dispatch four clones before; thirty might be a slight problem. But he just remembered the other clones from earlier was a little easy to dispatch. I didn't matter he would handle this well. A smile appeared on his face.

Maya looked at the original Naruto pant harshly. She stared realizing his eyes looked weird. She narrowed her eyes before blinking in realization. A genjutsu….he's been using one. Wait he could use genjutsu? She shook her head figuring this was not the time for such thoughts. She opened her mouth to whisper the rest of her plan but stopped when Naruto began doing a few hand seals. Maya watched him plant his hand into the ground quickly. She saw dark characters race from his hand heading towards the man. She quickly looked at him as he glanced at the thirty clones. She blinked as something seemed to catch his attention. He looked down before jumping to the right, a tower of blue flames erupted from the ground underneath him. "How in the…" Maya whispered as all of the clones followed him quickly.

"Come. Lets get to him now." He said. Maya nodded before they both ran towards him.

Ranmura landed before dashing into the forest. He didn't know what that was but he barely felt it. It's like it crawled right through his senses. He growled looking at the five clones that was keeping up with him perfectly. The wounds the other clones have inflicted on his legs was slowing him down a bit, but nothing too great. He narrowed his eyes; he had to get serious if the boy had more techniques like that then he would be a huge problem, wait nah getting serious would ruin his fun. His eyes caught sight of the blue fire still rocketing into the air and he smiled, real fun. His attention switched feeling fast movement. He looked in front of him to see the blue eyes of Naruto's clone. He quickly stopped before doing a back flip dodging the swipe of two swords. The moment he landed he crouched down dodging another horizontal swipe from behind. He leaned forward pressing his legs to the ground before lashing out with a kick. He saw the clone being lifted up off the ground by a clone who was currently rolling in the air. He growled really annoyed. So it was this type of clones. He never knew someone could create two types of the same clones.

Naruto and Maya moved fast. They weren't moving as fast as his clones and Ranmura but it was fast enough. He got the memories of one of his clones being destroyed and was happy with what he saw. It seems it would take him a while to do so. Now only if he could lure him towards them instead of them chasing him down. Naruto blinked before stopping. Maya ran passed him before sliding to a stop. "What is it?" She asked.

"I just thought…maybe my clones can lure him to us instead of us chasing him." Naruto said. Maya blinked before giving him a blank look.

"You know…. That was my original plan." She said. Naruto stared at him before grinning sheepishly.

"Sorry about that. I probably should have listened to the entire plan." He said. "But since we are right back on track. Lets have him come to a new clearing." Naruto said.

"Ok…but how will your clones knows?" She asked.

"Hey. My clones are me. If I thought of this so did they." Naruto said shrugging. Maya raised her eyebrow at that before nodding accepting it. It made sense, now she really couldn't wait to master the technique.

"Alright so which way do we head?" She asked. Naruto shrugged, he just figured they would run around until they found one. Maya blinked before shaking her head. "Ok. Follow me then. I think I know where to find one." She said. Naruto nodded with his eyes the clones should be able to locate them quickly enough…he hoped. He watched Maya do a 360-degree turn before turning to her left. "Come on. This way." Maya said. Naruto nodded and watched her began to run. He looked off to where his clones were before dashing after Maya.

Ranmura panted heavily looking at the remaining fifteen clones. It passed a good seven minutes since they engaged him and after killing each one he notice a change in the others. It was weird, he couldn't describe it but they were getting harder to hit. Not only that but they were continually targeting his legs. He was now at less half mobility. Not to mention they would not let him pull off a jutsu for the life of them. He tried two times and sported two new wounds on his right arm and left leg for it. He had to admit this was pretty fun. Who would have thought a kid could push him against the ropes like this? Well not to say he was against the ropes because he hasn't even started to truly play. He narrowed his eyes as he walked to the right, the fifteen clones walking with him in a complete circle around him. After a moment of walking they all stopped. Ranmura held a kunai up in each hand positioning them in a position so he could see the few clones out of his direct sight. He took a breath before dashing at the clone in front of him. He could hear all fifteen clones start forward and smile. He would handle this now. He reached the first one faster than the others could reach him. He lashed out flicking his wrist in short motions to stab the blue eyed clone. His short flowing combo of three stabs did nothing as the clone managed to take a step back at the last possible second before lifting up his right arm, sword positioned horizontally, blocking each strike.

A smile spread across his face as he glanced to the right. He lashed out with his foot aiming to the approaching clone. He narrowed his eyes; the clone seemed to jump up at the last possible second landing on his feet. His arms that are wrapped on the opposite side of his body lashed out swinging both arms towards his neck. He leaned to his right leaning his head a little further. He managed to dodge perfectly lowing his leg quickly before leaning his body back, bounding towards the boy like a rocking toy. The managed to hit the clone but saw a smile on his face a second before it disappeared into a puff of smoke. His eyes widen as the other fourteen clones surrounded him from all directions, swords positioned to pierce him. He prepared himself to switch with one of the clones. The moment he tried the clones disappeared in to puff of smoke around him. He breathed in before chocking on the cloud.

Naruto stopped the memories of his clones appearing in his head. From the start of their battle to the end he destroyed only 16 clones. He was about to try and switch with one of them but that was easily fixable from their point of view. What destroyed them was chakra depletion and it was a fucking pain to remember the feeling of running out of chakra fourteen times. He shook his head again taking an actually notice of how he was in the chakra department. He frowned; he was pretty good since he wasn't really concentrating on anything but he would have to go at this without his eyes now or he wouldn't last more then five minutes It would be bad to end up like his clones. He looked up a second spotting Maya about six meters away from him giving him a curious stare. "What's the matter?" She asked.

"Clones have been destroyed." Naruto said. Maya blinked humming a little.

"How fast do you think he will find us?" She asked. Naruto smiled at her, he though she would be a nervous wreck but she was taking everything in stride.

"You know, I thought you would be freaking out after out conversation about jonin." Naruto said. Maya gave him a look before looking away from him.

"Let hell I would. If you can fight one, I sure in hell can." Maya said. His smile increased that the thought of their rivalry.

"I'll let you have that." Naruto said walking to her. Maya looked back over to him and stared with a worried gaze.

"Plus, I can't be, not with your current state. Not again." She whispered. Naruto heard it and his smile dropped before picking up again. The moment he reached her by the tree he looked at her his expression of the upmost seriousness.

"Maya-chan…when we fight him this time. I want you to just worry about attacking him. Do what you can to make sure he doesn't pull off any…" At that Naruto shook his head. "No. I'll stop him from doing anything ninjutsu. Just worry about incapacitating him. I'll protect you from his attacks." Naruto said.

"Are you sure that will work? We barely took out Anko before when she was being serious." Maya said. Naruto hummed lowly before shaking his head.

"There is a huge difference in the battles. We weren't trying to kill hebi-sensei and she wasn't trying to kill us. Besides that it seems he was having quite the trouble with fighting my clones when they were working together. So will do the same. I'll set up clones around have try to have them suppress their chakra. I tried it you and it worked so it should be the same." Naruto said rubbing his chin. Maya frowned thinking about it.

"You would be dividing up your chakra so you might not be able to keep up with him. You are very low as it is." Maya said. Naruto raised an eyebrow at her before nodding wondering if she could actually sense how low he was.

"Then that leaves a big problem." Naruto said.

"Not really…. I have a simple plan for that." Maya said grinning. Naruto tilted his head wondering what she had planned.

Ranmura landed on a tree branch before stopping his left hand up in a single seal. He panted a little looking over to his left. He could sense the two of them through their chakra, though their chakra signature was undistinguishable by him. He knew there was only two but could not tell the difference between them. Especially now with the boy's normal chakra level below how it was earlier. They had stopped moving so he took it as if they were planning a trap for him. He smiled slightly excited wondering what the two brats had planned. He shook his head trying to regain himself. He need to at least look at them as a threat. He was not one to underestimate his foes even if they were brats. From what he heard Zabuza made that mistake and Jinsuke did as well. Now was not the time to repeat their mistakes. The girl was a wild card but he was sure he could handle her. He leaped to the next branch deciding he would kill them quickly instead of continue to playing around.

Ranmura suddenly stopped and blinked feeling a raise of chakra. He wondered what they were up to. He narrowed his eyes before deciding he would try and run around them. He began to move again feeling the other chakra spike a bit before it was forced back down. He blinked his eyes widening releasing the two chakras was completely overshadowed by a large dome like chakra field. How in the hell did this happen? He growled deciding to head to the location he lasted sensed them.

It didn't take long before he was in a tree hiding in abundant leaves that grew from the branches. He was roughly twenty meters away from the genin. He narrowed his eyes a little only being able to spot the boy. The girl was gone completely. He narrowed his eyes cursing that he was unable to sense any chakra around in this field. He decided to close in some hoping to locate the girl. He moved quietly, lowering himself down the tree. He got to the base of the tree noticing the boy didn't move or seem to see him. He crouched down quickly leaping to the neck tree before dashing into bushes. He was cautious enough, glancing around for any hint of silver hair. He didn't find any. She might be on the other side waiting for him. He hid barely ten meters away from him his eyes narrowed. At the moment he was unseen or seemingly unnoticed. He had a moment to come up with a plan to lure her out.

He grinned thinking a rock clone like before would work. He began to mold chakra and frowned hearing a sudden ringing noise. He glanced around pretty sure there was no normal sort for this. He shook his head looking back at the boy. His eyes widen completely feeling a presence behind him. He jumped forward turning a bit to look behind him but that didn't save him from the long blade that made it's way across the middle of his back. He grunted the pain filling his senses as a second blade cut through his clothing from just under his shoulder to his hip. How in the fuck did this girl sneak up on him? He felt the haze the dome made disappear and realize it was Naruto's doing. He growled angrily jumping forward again his eyes turning back to the boy.

Naruto held his grin her plan worked out well. Who knew he could do something like this to impair a sensor? Naruto dashed at the man quickly drawing his sword. He was ready to perform his duty now. With Maya's attack it shouldn't be long before either this guy retreats or he finishes him off. Either one is fine, but Naruto would prefer if he were dead. He did not need what he did to Jinsuke to come out to light, at least not this early. Naruto was quick making it over to Ranmura as he landed. Naruto swung his sword quickly but it was quickly and easily blocked. He should have guessed. He narrowed his eyes slightly deciding to move over to the left ducking a bit while he did so. He felt that's where the jounin's next attack would come from. Naruto would have to pat himself on the back for guessing right. He managed to dodge the kunai swipe from Ranmura's left. Naruto ran passed him watching Maya continue her pursuit. The moment he got near her she tossed the sword to him and he caught it in his free hand. Naruto quickly slide behind her before following after her his footsteps matching her perfectly.

Maya watched as the man Naruto referred to as Ranmura, stupid name by the way; turn completely landing on the ground holding a kunai in his left hand. Interesting, she didn't see him take it out. She leapt at him bringing her long sword back before bringing it back down on top of him. Maya narrowed her eyes as he jumped back again. She watched him raise his kunai up trying to block to the small length of the blade that he would not be able to escape in time. She took a brief second to wonder if she was to actually cut him would he die?

Ranmura landed wondering exactly why she was using a nodachi. That type of sword was very inefficient for a ninja…unless you were from cloud that is. A thought crossed his mind at that very moment. If she's using a nodachi and she damn sure hit him with it…how in the hell was he still alive? He glanced at his kunai taking a notice that it was cut through, half of it missing completely. He looked back at her and grinned coming to a realization that she hasn't taken a life before. Funny, he thought every genin was forced to kill things in other to the fear of killing out of them. Seems she wasn't. His grin disappeared as the pain of his back made itself known. Even if she was hesitating about killing, her attacks were still devastating. This girl's ability was nothing to shrug off. He watched Maya land and took a brief second to wonder where the boy ran off too. There was no trace of him and he would not allow even a second opening to try and sense where he was. His attention came back to the girl as she inhaled before dashing at him. He drew another kunai holding it with his left hand hearing only her footsteps.

Maya dashed at him in a zigzag pattern before coming at him from the left. Upon getting to him she swung her nodachi coming from the right. He leaned away from the blade taking a step back. Just in time to dodge the blade. He stared as she continued on bringing her sword back toward him. He took another step back and waiting for the blade to pass him enough for him to counter attack. He only waited to seconds before the blade was passed his body. He closed their distance a second later pointing his blade her neck. He brought his arm in a small arc towards the side of her neck. He got an inch away from her neck before he noticed something move up behind her. He gritted his teeth as he felt something cut the side of his wrist. He pulled his hand back quickly jumping back noticing the narrowed blue eyes of Naruto behind her.

Maya watched him land, not even wasting a single second before dashing right after him. She could feel Naruto right behind her, their footsteps completely synced. She realized it would be much harder to damage this guy then what she first thought. Oh well. She came up to him sliding to her right upon getting into range. She swung her sword again aiming for leg. He hopped over the blade and upon landing he thrust his kunai forwards toward her chest. Maya blinked now looking straight up at the moonlit sky. She glanced at Ranmura's arm before looking at Naruto. He was good. He moved her fast enough that she didn't feel it. She looked at Ranmura who pulled his arm back quickly. She noticed Naruto moved his arm hovering right over her breast before thrusting his sword, which he now held in a reverse grip towards the man. She watched as Naruto arm moved a good number of times to which she heard the clinging of metal. She saw Ranmura jump back before she felt Naruto push her up to her original position.

Maya stared at Ranmura realizing there are two new wounds on him. One on his left arm and one near his side. They both are shallow and were bleeding just a bit. "Pretty good Naruto." Maya said.

"Thanks…the element of surprise is really deadly." He whispered back panting. She watched Ranmura began a set of hand seals and grinned making one of her own.

Ranmura blinked hearing a sizzling sound. He looked at his feet spotting a explosive tag. He growled out moving the chakra he just began to mold to his legs so he could leap away from it. He saw it explode. He noticed it wasn't a huge one but if he was hit his legs would not be working after it. He frowned as his feet touched the ground, thinking their might me more then one around the area. His mind came back to his two adversaries again only seeing the girl. Ranmura moved quickly raising his kunai up blocking the overhead strike. He realized her blade didn't go through it like it did the other kunai and figured he guessed right about her. He pushed her sword back before rotating his hips forward bringing his right foot up. He grunted feeing an object smash into his leg sending to back forcefully nearly making him loose his balance. He managed to spot Naruto move back behind his teammate as he recovered.

Maya swung her blade again at him seeing the opening. She noticed that her swings was slower than usually but didn't exactly know why. She watched him dodge fairly easily before trying another attack on her. She stared as Naruto came around from her left side swinging his blade down horizontally at the offending hand. She noticed that he managed to stop his attack before trying to retract his arm. She watched as the skin of the back of his fingers flew off. Blood came spurted out fast but none got on her. She watched Naruto retreat behind her once again before she decided to continue her attack.

An insane smile came across his face. The bastard nearly took off my fingers off, yes he almost as big of a threat as Jinsuke. One he realized this he thought of what it means before making the decision to gain some distance from the two. He knew already that close combat was not his specialty, but he felt it was necessary to play around with them. After all what fun is hunting if his prey would surrender easily. He moved quickly going to retreat. He needed to reassess the situation. He jumped back watching the girl make another seal. He landed and quickly rebounded up, avoiding the explosion. He landed on a tree pressing on it before jumping off again another explosion setting off a second later. All right he just needed to keep moving.

Naruto frowned watching him move across the area. This is bad. He's going to make her use up every one she set up. "Maya-chan. Stop. Let him go." Naruto said.

"Huh? But what about…"

"It doesn't matter at this point. If you waste them all we will be in the same position. Let him go. We'll try and put the thought that we are out in his mind. Most likely he won't be, but it will make him wary." Naruto said. Maya nodded and drew three shuriken.

"What if he starts to use a jutsu?" She asked. Naruto grinned remembering his clones.

"Let him use all the jutsu he wants. We will avoid them all." He said. Maya raised an eyebrow before nodding in understanding. Chakra exhaustion is a bitch.

Ranmura stopped on a tree branch realizing the explosions ended. He looked at the two kids finally able to see Naruto. He hummed drawing some wrappings. He wrapped his hand enough so it wouldn't get in the way of anything he wanted to do. He watched finally taking in everything. Naruto only comes out to defend but attacks as well. The girl…Maya if he heard right she just lashes out at him but is unable to put her all into it. Most likely they stopped the tags going off to put him off and allow him to do what he wanted. If anything the moment he starts she will set another off. He tilted his head narrowing his eyes a little. The biggest threat is Naruto, but with him sticking close to her how does he get him away?

Naruto watched him carefully seeing a smile come on his face. Naruto frowned a little a few ideas of what could possible be going through this mans mind. The first was that he just completely went over their plan and plans to separate them. If that's the plan it would be problematic but he was pretty sure he could do it. But that would allow Naruto to go on the offensive as well.

Second plot was finding a way to take care of Maya so it would only be him and her left. Naruto hated to admit it but it was possible to do. But he wouldn't allow her to take any more damage did she already has. Third plot was to continue with attack and breach his defense. In other words use his defense of her to attack him without worrying about her. Most likely he already figured out Maya wasn't aiming to kill. Which is a huge problem. If he were smart he would take the blow from her before attacking me. Their was one more plan that came to his mind that was the most likely to occur. Either way his next move would determine how he would decide to counter him. Hopefully he wouldn't have to use it again.

"Maya-chan…. if he throws kunai, they will most likely have explosive tags on them." Naruto said. Maya blinked and looked glanced back at him nodding.

Ranmura grinned setting his mind on what to do. He leapt forward off the tree branch. He drew five kunai with explosive tags wrapped around the hilt and quickly launched it towards the two. He watched, as the girl throw five kunai of her own. He hummed noticing that each of his kunai was hit. She has nice aim. A grin appeared on his face a second before his five kunai exploded giving him the cover he needed to do a jutsu that would ultimately end this farce. Before he could possible finish five kunai burst through the smoke each having visible explosive tags attached to them. He growled quickly moving to his right. He continued to concentrate making the seals as the tags went off. He was pushed away by the concussion force of the blast but remained doing his seals. He fell from the tree fast flipping his body so he was up right before slamming his hands on the ground.

Maya's eyes went to him feeling a large tremor. She watched as pillars of rock at least 20 feet high rose from the ground traveling towards them at a high speed. "Right." She shouted out quickly. They both jumped to the right as a rock rose from beneath them. The moment they landed Naruto grabbed her almost causing her to shout out before he jumped away again. She managed to catch a glimpse of the direction of the pillar change towards them, from her bridal style position. "Fuck." She let out. She looked ahead of them as Naruto broke out of the clearing.

"Set them all off." Naruto let out. Maya blinked at that looking at him.

"But we are still…." Maya started.

"Just do it." He shouted out leaping from the ground to a tree truck. Maya growled at the order but did as he said. She made a seal feeling Naruto adjust her so he could also make a seal. She heard a pop behind them as all one hundred of the remaining tags went off at the same time.

Naruto had to say this was his most awesome of a stupid plan he had in ages…well not counting his plan to collect all the used panties at the hot springs and plant them on this dude with sunglasses on. Funny thing was it was nighttime. His clone was there to stop all debris that would be flying towards them and hopefully take most of the force that would be sent their way. He was happy the clone didn't disappear when the concussive blast passed them. He was even happier that the clone managed to block a lot of the rocks and wood that flew at them. What he wasn't happy with was that he was flying towards a thick tree and he could do nothing to stop himself. He frowned managing to spin his body around making sure Maya was away from the tree. Now he just hoped it wouldn't be too painful.

Naruto opening his eyes slowly, making sure to keep quiet. He realized he was moving and raised an eyebrow. He caught sight of purple hair before blinking realizing it was Anko who was carrying him. He blinked still feeling a bit groggy and closed his eyes once again.

Naruto opened his eyes once again this time catching sight of a familiar ceiling. For some odd reason he felt like he would never get used to waking up like this. He sat up slowly before squeezing his eyes tight grabbing the back of his head. "Ow" He groaned feeling the sting of pain. He waited for a moment letting the pain ebb away before opening his eyes again. Yet he was back at the house and because of the pain he knew that, that wasn't a dream. He looked around the room finding it devoid of life save for him. He hummed spinning his legs off the bed before standing up. He blinked feeling a second of dizziness pass over him. He reached out grabbing the bed as he tried to recover. After a moment he shook his head hoping to clear it out. It worked a little bit but not enough so he could actually walk or so he though. He moved back onto the bed leaning over before moving his hands to his face. He closed his eyes placing his elbows on his knees

After a moment Naruto removed his hands from his face he sat up straight feeling the change in his eyesight. He raised an eyebrow as distance voices entered his head. "Hey! It wasn't our fault! How did you expect us to escape from him?" Naruto blinked that was surely Maya's voice.

"Your smart, how do you think you could have escaped? Smoke bombs, traps, anything that you could fucking use." That time it was Anko.

"Oh yeah, I have pretty good sensory abilities, and shit like that doesn't stop me from sensing someone. How do you expect it to affect someone who had a lot more experience than us? If we were to have tried that we would be in a worst condition then we are now." Maya asked. Naruto could tell this had just started and the emotions running through their voices it was easy to tell they were angry.

"I'm not asking for ifs alright. I'm trying to find out why you, someone who is clearly smarter and has more rational fucking thought than your teammate, allowed this to go on? If you two could fight this guy to the point where he was tired out and had wounds that is greater than the both of you have put together, then why didn't you at least try?" She asked. Naruto had to wonder where these two were. He couldn't really pinpoint them. He could hear them clearly over the light breathing and snores that was going on that he could pick up but why wasn't he seeing their image like usual.

"Tch! I came to the decision that running away would only give him openings to pick us off. From our fight we managed to uncover that he does better at long range." Maya said. Naruto stared wondering why she took the blame for him. She could have blamed it on him; it wouldn't have been that big of a problem. What was she going to beat him again? If she did she should expect to take more damaged then he dealt her before because he was not letting himself get the shit beat out of him again. He had enough of that.

"So? With the amount of covering you both had around you that would have been easily fixed. Try again." Anko said. Naruto blinked not liking where this was going. Naruto stood up and began to make his way to the window. He knew enough about Anko to know that this is not a conversation she would have indoors. Most likely they would be outside close to the building. As he got closer he felt weaker, his normal breathing pace becoming much harsher a little bit too quickly. He growled lowly trying to deactivate his eyes. He probably didn't have that much sleep to regain enough of his chakra, at this point he probably wouldn't need it. He blinked realizing he couldn't move his chakra away from his eyes. Instead the remaining chakra in his coils was being pushed to his eyes. He growled dropping to his knees, all strength in his body leaving him. "Fuck." He whispered. He could hear Maya growl as he looked around the room quickly. He had to locate his forehead protector; he needed to find it. He managed to force himself to stand up looking around to room. He bit his lip as he walked slowly over to the bed. It wasn't there. It wasn't on the bed: near his bag, on the stand; it just wasn't here.

"Don't criticize our actions when you weren't even there." Maya said. "I tried to contact you for this but you didn't even reply nor give a sign that you even fucking heard me. I bet it took him using that pillar technique to even get you to turn your headset on." Maya let out.

"f…uck.." Naruto panted out. He fell to the bed hearing singing in a low whisper. He couldn't make out the words nor could he even move to look around the room. But the way it was sung even as low as it was reminded him of a lullaby, a very dark lullaby. He let out a low whisper of damn before his eyes shut, all energy almost completely drained from his body. Darkness would be his partner tonight, and he wished that he had even a little say over it.

* * *

Hello everyone. Sorry for taking so long with this. I rewrote this several times and I had plans to write a chapter of another story but you guys managed to persuade me to do this one. Also I'm in the final year of college so year graduating in a month and I tell you know I am nervous as hell. Any who I hope you guys like the chapter and if you have any questions about this or prior chapters I will be happy to answer them. All long as it doesn't spoil my future plans for you guys. Mwahahahahaha

Oh and note. The fighting in this one, I decided to try something new with the jutsu that was used. I figured it brings a little something to the story to not know what a person used from another perspective.


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